VanDread Halo The Second Stage
by Freedom Guard
Summary: The adventures of the Nirvana and their allies as well as John and Cortana continue, however, new allies and new enemies make their appearance into the battle. Battles await, and maybe even...something more. Story is now on Ice, focusing on updating all NON Halo stories.
1. Chapter 1

VanDread – Halo The Second Stage

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to VanDread or Halo….

Prologue

( ): Thoughts

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In the other world…

Dr. Catherine E, Halsey took a look at her patients' vital signs and could see that Team Katana were going to pull through at this point and would recover, it had taken them some time to figure out how to deactivate the 'Slipspace Cryotubes' that the Spartan III Team were found it. So far they were trying to find a way out of this shield world that they were currently in.

"How are they doing Dr. Halsey?"

The woman turned to face Senior Chief Petty Officer Franklin Mendez who looked at the young children in armor over and she replied.

"They're be fine, the vital signs look very much normal and there's no sign of any internal or external injuries. Where are Kelly, Linda, and Fred?"

"They're out doing recon work at the moment. This world we're in is certainly different from anything I have seen in my years."

"I believe that this is a Dyson Sphere, the Forerunners must have been able to command quite a technological edge in order to actually construct a successful Dyson Sphere as well has have the resources and machinery to make this device function."

The young Spartans woke up a few minutes later and were not wearing their SPI Mark II Armor and they were all pale, a very obvious characteristic for those who wore armor; it still galled Catherine that James Ackerson had attempted this, of course she was no different in that regard, when she started the Spartan II Program many years ago, she had kidnapped, or in more 'gentle' words, conscripted the members of the Spartan IIs and turned them into what they were now, it was something that had been a great source of guilt for her.

She had taken their chances to live normal human lives, and condemned them to the lives of Super Soldiers and while they had proven to be very much capable in their own rights in combat and had been the last hope of the UNSC in the wars with the Covenant, she still felt great guilt at what she had done, she had never shared this guilt to anyone, though she had no doubt that Mendez and some few others knew of it. She had once thought that by saying that she was sacrificing the few to save the many, but that train of thought did little to salve and heal her conscience on the matter. She knew that there was no way she could convince Fred, Kelly, and Linda, along with the other Spartans who she considered her Spartans as they had been fighting too long to consider giving up and living normal lives, but these children, she still had a chance to make things right for them and while she knew that it would take time, while they were here in Onyx and in the Shield World of the Forerunners, she had all the time she needed to try to change them.

"I need some time alone to check them and the others Petty Officer Mendez."

"Right."

The Senior UNSC officer and Spartan I was busy checking out the place that they were in and waited for the arrival of the other Spartans and he looked about, it still made him feel a bit overwhelmed by the fact that they were actually inside a planet of all things and it was something that he knew would make things even more interesting. The Spartan I then wondered just how the war effort between the UNSC and the Covenant going, as much as he wanted to be back there for combat with the enemy, there was not much he could do until Dr. Catherine had found a way to open a door for them to get out of this massive planetary bomb shelter that the Forerunners had built.

It had been a while since he had been assigned to training the Spartan IIs and while they had improved, they were still children in his mind and while they were more numerous, and cheaper to field in most regards, plus they were successful in their missions, the UNSC officer was not quite happy with the fact that nearly all of them were going to be lost, Beta Company was completely annihilated, and only Tom and Lucy were the lucky survivors, and even that that was stretching the definition of the word luck. Tom had been traumatized and Lucy was rendered unable to speak by the horror of the battle that Beta Company had taken part in. Mendez shared his doubts with one of his students, Kurt or rather Lieutenant Commander Kurt Ambrose as he was called, but Kurt assured him that they would do well, they did so, but he knew Kurt was badly hurt by the deaths of all the Spartan IIs under his command, which was why he had instituted the harder training regimes as well as the illegal drug known as Drug 009762-OO and it increased the areas of the frontal lobe that dealt with strength, endurance, aggression and tolerance to injury, allowing Gamma Company Spartan IIs to fight longer and better when they should have been already dead or in a coma, of course, the drug had the tradeoff of making them lose rational thought and also made them highly unstable in a fight, not to mention they would lose higher brain functions if the mutagen transformed them without restraint. This would also turn them into violent being who were hyper-aggressive, irrational, and psychotic, those facts, which if left unchecked and then combined with their exceptional military training, could make the Spartans become deadly threats to the UNSC as much as the Covenant were.

Mendez had not been a big fan of Kurt's move with the matter, but understood that after Alpha Company was annihilated and Beta Company was nearly destroyed, the Spartan Commander would want to do anything to save the lives of his soldiers. The mutagen was countered by two other drugs, one was Drug 009927-DG or miso-olanzapine, an anti psychotic drug to counter the mutagen's powerful and deadly effects along with Drug 0091267-PX or cyclodexione-4 which was an bi-polar integration drug. Both were effective to counter the effects of the mutagen, but both had be administered regularly to avoid the Spartan IIIs from losing themselves.

Mendez rubbed the bridge of his nose and then ran his right hand's fingers on his scars and wondered what would this isolation lead to, they had no medicines as of yet to administer to the Spartan IIs who were with them and that worried him, as much as he had his doubts about them, they were good fighters and he would not like having to kill them if they went wild, and he had no doubts Kelly, Fred, and Linda would not like it as these children were _Kurt's_ Spartans, but if worse came to worse…

"You don't have to go that far Mendez."

The Spartan I turned to Catherine and replied in his usually gruff and professional voice.

"What do you mean by that Dr. Halsey?"

"Killing them if they lose it….I can try and save them, I don't like what Kurt did, I never thought he would go that far, but he had good reason. Losing that many people under your watch…can force you to do things that are illegal, but right in your mind.."

"How did you know?"

"I am not just the head of the Spartan II Program, creator of Smart AIs, AND founder of MJOLNIR series Mendez, I am a doctor as well, I KNOW what that mutagen will do to them."

"Then you know that I will do what I have to in order to ensure your safety and that of the others Dr. Halsey, you and the others are too important to lose."

"I know, let's just hope that things don't go that far."

"We don't have the medicines for that Dr. Halsey, I'd give them at least two weeks, maybe less. It is comes to it….do what you have to."

Catherine E, Halsey knew that what Mendez said was true, she had found Kurt's files and read them extensively and knew well about Kurt's compassion and desire to bond with others, John , Fred, Linda, and Kelly might not have liked it at first but after he freed them from Gen. Howard Graves, they trusted him completely, Kurt was the only one who could outmatch John in war games when they fought with each other. She had read how anguished Kurt was when Alpha Company was annihilated to the last Spartan, and Beta Company was obliterated except for Tom and Lucy.

She knew that what Kurt did was wrong, but she was not going to give up until she found a way to help heal these children.

It was then that they got an incoming message from Kelly.

"Chief, Ma'am, this is Kelly! We found something!"

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Later…

Mendez, Dr. Catherine, Tom, Lucy, Ash, Mark, Olivia, and the members of Team Katana, who were now ready for anything, Cade-G012, Max-G078, Leena-G023, and Jake-G051 arrived at the coordinates handed to them by Kelly and arrived to see a massive structure in the middle of a large island connected by a solid energy bridge. In the front were the other Spartan IIs and Fred stepped forward and both Catherine and Mendez came forward with the UNSC officer spoke.

"What have you found?"

"This structure took us a while to find Chief. But this thing is huge. As far as Linda could see with her scope, there appear to be no defenses of any sort at the moment. But can't be sure entirely once we go in, as far as we can see here in this area, this is the only structure that appears to be here so far. The architecture outside matches that of the Covenant in some respects but the rest are definitely Forerunner, we have no idea why it would be here, but it seems to be something of importance as far as we can see to be built here in this Shield World."

Catherine looked at the structure….it resembled a pyramid, just like the pyramids back on Earth, namely in the country of Egypt. There appeared to be massive obelisks that were glowing on the four counters and what appeared to be lights on regular lines around the pyramid. Fred was right in her mind, why would the Forerunners build this here in this Shield World?

"We should take a look inside."

Mendez shook his head.

"I do not think that is a wise idea, there may not be any defenses outside, but what about inside?"

"We don't have much choice Mendez, we might find the answers we need in that facility. It might also help us find a way out of the Shield World as well. If the Forerunners build Onyx as a bomb shelter, then there must be a way out of it as well. There might even be answers as to why this place was abandoned."

Mendez sighed, he had high respect for Dr. Catherine as they had worked together for a number of years ever since he was part of the DI unit assigned to the Spartan IIs, he had a bad feeling but seeing as they had nothing better to do at the moment, they decided to go ahead. He then nodded and Fred touched the control panel and then the Light Bridge was online. As they crossed it, the team got a better feel of the massive island before them and saw that it was surrounded by a vast sea of water, Catherine moved closer and took out her data pad, typed in some commands and took out a special sampler and took a reading of the water and found that it was fresh water, perfect for drinking.

"Amazing, this water is fit for human consumption."

Dr. Catherine moved on with the others and it was not long before they were before a massive energy door and then Dr. Catherine stepped forward and place d her hand on the pad and it glowed as if scanning her and when the light disappeared, the doors opened and then to their surprise, a floating robot appeared, or rather a single glowing eye and it spoke in a very respectful voice.

"Ahhh….Reclaimers have arrived at Shield World 002 at last! Greetings to you, I am Construct H-067 Joyous Rebirth, how may I be of service?"

Catherine had heard about this type of machine from John when the Spartan had rescued them from Reach months before and while she was wary of the machine, it seemed to be non hostile. Taking a chance at finding out more, she spoke to them while telling the others to lower their weapons, Cade, Max, Leena, Ash, Mark, Olivia and Jake did so as well as Mendez, Kelly, Fred, and Linda.

"What is the purpose of this installation Joyous Rebirth?"

"This facility is known as the Genesis Sanctum, my creators, the Forerunners had built this to serve as the hub of anew civilization to be established in the event of the activation of the Halo Rings, this facility is able to house at least three to four hundred thousand sentient beings as well as those of your race Reclaimer, it is equipped with all the needed materials and equipment for civilization to begin anew, as well as facilities for learning, manufacturing, medical needs, agriculture, construction and more. It also houses…"

"Medical needs?"

"Why yes! Over the many millennia of existence, the Forerunners have cataloged all the relevant biological data concerning all sentient species in the known Universe, including that of your species Reclaimer, why do you ask that? Surely you would have known as you are the child of the Forerunners?"

Kelly whispered to Fred via COM system.

"You have any idea what that floating light bulb is saying Fred?"

"Not a clue, Ma'am seems to handle this better, so let her do the talking."

"Roger that."

Catherine ran the idea over and over in her mind, if that this Construct said was true, this could be the answer she was looking for on how to treat the members of both Team Saber and Team Katana. It was a chance that she was not sure of at the moment, but it was better than doing nothing as well.

"Joyous Rebirth, can you scan the full physical profiles of a sentient being?"

"Why yes Reclaimer, though I have not detected any biological anomalies within you yourself and you have shown no signs of Flood Infection as well. Are you referring to your other companions by any chance?"

"Yes, I would like you to scan the ones behind me."

The head of the Spartan II Program pointed to the Spartan IIs and the flying Monitor moved to them and then she spoke to the Construct.

"Can you do a full scale biological analysis for any anomalies?"

"Of course."

The Spartan IIs were about to fight but the older Spartans shook their heads in warning and Mendez spoke evenly.

"Do as Dr. Catherine ordered you to do soldiers!"

The Spartan IIs nodded and allowed the Monitor to do it's work and it spoke only a few words, engrossed on scanning the Spartan IIIs.

"Hmm…"

"Oh my…"

"That is distressing."

As soon as Joyous Rebirth was done, it moved to Catherine and spoke to her.

"I must say that I am very concerned with at least seven of these subjects you have asked me to scan Reclaimer, two of them are in good physical health but the others are a different matter, while they had shown the physical features of your species, I have detected some very troubling anomalies within their frontal lobes of their brains and that is very worrisome. Have you any knowledge as to how they were subjected to these changes?"

"They were given some very powerful….drugs so to speak and that has led to the alterations. This drug is being countered by two others but they must be administered regularly as well."

"I see….whatever this crude medication is, it is highly destructive in the long run, such mutations could very well reduce the subjects to…well, non sentient beings."

"What was that?!"

Cade And Ash as well as the others were angered and were about to attack the Construct when Mendez gave them a warning look, that made them calm down as well as the fact that Lucy and Tom were there as well.

Catherine knew that she was taking a risk but continued with her question.

"Is there anything within the archives here in the Sanctum that can help them be able to control the changes without resorting to drugs?"

"I believe so, the medical data archives of my creators may have the answers, however, they must be allowed to remain in Cryo-stasis for me and my fellow Constructs to administer the right methods and solutions."

Catherine nodded and spoke once more,

"Is it all right if we remain here in this facility until then Joyous Rebirth?"

"You do not need to ask that Reclaimer, as the child of my makers, you and your companions are very much welcome to remain here in the Shield World for as long as you deem fit! Come, I will guide you to the Medical section of the Sanctum so we can begin the procedures."

"Thank you, I wish to see the procedures myself as well."

"Of course Reclaimer, it shall be done."

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For the past few weeks the Spartans and both Mendez and Catherine remained inside the Sanctum while Dr. Halsey was in the Medical section of the Sanctum with Joyous Rebirth, working on the process of healing the damage done by the mutagen in the minds of Ash, Mark Olivia, Cade, Max, Leena, and Jake. The UNSC's top scientist had to admit that the archives of the Forerunners was very impressive and the information was wondrous and vast, and it amazed her, Joyous Rebirth was also eager to be in the company of Catherine Halsey and while they were treating the Spartan IIIs of Gamma Company, the two would trade as much information as they could between one another. There was plenty of food and drink in the Sanctum and even Kelly said that this was the very first time she had eaten this good in years.

Mendez and the rest of the other Spartans including Tom and Lucy were allowed to remain in the comfort area of the residential district of the Sanctum and did as much as they could to gather all the needed information, the Forerunners' technology was very impressive and would prove helpful to the UNSC as soon as they found a way out of the Shield World.

The procedures to help Gamma Company proved to be fairly effective, while most of the damage was reversed after several more tests, the effects of the mutagen were not wholly erased, but the seven members of Gamma Company were no longer in need of taking the two drugs and had better control over the 'animal parts' of their frontal lobes so their higher mental faculties were very much intact and safe for now. That was a great relief to Dr. Catherine, and that allowed her to try and act like a mother to them, to try and work on convincing them to stop fighting.

The process was not easy as all seven of the Spartan IIIs including Tom and Lucy were not planning to give up their desire to avenge the deaths of their families and friends due to the war with the Covenant, and while they had not attacked Catherine, they were very much resistant to the woman's attempts to change their ways of thinking. The good doctor however was very stubborn and adamant in her attempts despite the hostility shown to her by the younger Spartans when she stared to do what she could to erode their will to fight. They would reply that the Covenant had taken everything from them, their homes, their friends, their families, and they wanted to avenge them no matter what.

Catherine knew that these children reminded her very much of three Spartan IIs who were the only three who were not keen on being part of the Spartan II Program years before. They were Mike, Jai, and Adrianna, or rather, Gray Team, when the three of them were conscripted and told as to what they were doing on Reach, these three did their absolute best to escape from Reach and no matter how many times they had been caught, they were still going at it.

These three gave Mendez and his DIs a considerable amount of headaches over the past years, Adrianna and Jai were the ones responsible for at least the highest number of broken toes, arms, fingers and noses on the DIs who had at first used Electron Batons to subdue them when they were caught, but due to their training and physical abilities, the DIs resorted to using tranquilizer rifles to capture them. Jai and Adrianna had some sort of friendship and that had been her key to convince Jai to remain, she had chat with him and told him that there was a drug that he could take that would allow him to forget everything, including Adrianna, as well as the fact that since his Flash Clone had already died in the orphanage there would be a heck of a storm if he returned. That had been enough to convince jai to return and stay in the program, at least for a while, but in the end he remained with Adrianna and then they were paired with Mike and they formed into the Gray Team.

Unlike their other Spartan IIs who were very much comfortable with rules and regulations, as well as working within the authority of the UNSC, Gray Team was more independent and not above questioning orders and they were not above doing things off book. While some of the other Spartans disliked that, she considered the independent streak of Adrianna, Jai, and Mike to be an asset in their own right, the last she heard of them was when they were enforcing the Cole Protocol and also going to attack the Covenant behind their lines, they were by far among the few Spartan IIs who were still using the older Mark IV and in the gray color as well.

She placed those thoughts aside for now as she and the others tried their best to learn as much as they could while they were in the Sanctum, she knew that Mendez and the other Spartan IIs, HER Spartans were hoping to go back there and support the UNSC no matter the result. She could never blame them for their loyalty to the UNSC. But they still had a lot to do in order to find a means of heading back to Earth. That was why when she was not working trying her very best to weaken the will of the Spartan IIIs to stop them from fighting, she would gather all the information that she could in order to find a way.

The information here could very well tip the scales in the favor of the UNSC once they arrived back to Earth, but they had to do what they could since according to Fred, Will before he died, and Linda, the Covenant had found Earth already. The news made her blood run cold and she hoped once this situation with Ackerson's Spartan III Project was over, she would do what she could when the chance came.

It was then that Joyous Rebirth guided them to a teleportation grid room and the Construct explained that this could be used to send specially trained Forerunner personnel to areas where they were needed, one of which was the outside Sentinel deployment center where even he was not allowed to go.

Fred asked Joyous Rebirth the question.

"Why are you not allowed up there?"

"The reason is fairly simple Reclaimer, as my duty is to make sure that Genesis Sanctum, I am only allowed to go there if there is a need for a more direct approach, I am after all a recorder and observer AI unit, not a full fledged combat model, thus my functions despite being very advanced and vast are still limited to maintaining the functions and operation of the Sanctum itself as well as other key facilities here in the Shield World. I only have a base Sentinel Beam to defend myself from attack, but it is not enough to face an entire army Reclaimer."

"Is there any way to deactivate the Sentinels outside the sphere?"

"I am afraid not Reclaimer, the only way to deactivate the Sentinels is to destroy the main power core node, and that is ill advised as that would render the Shield World vulnerable to invasion, the Biomass scanners will also deactivate and that would render the world open to possible Flood infestation."

Catherine then spoke to the

"Is there any way for us to leave the Shield World without being attacked by the Sentinels?"

"Yes, you must have a ship that can release a transponder code that is recognized by the Sentinels as that of a friendly Forerunner ship. If you have that, you can leave the Shield World when you wish, though I would advise against it as there is the fact that the Halo Rings might have activated. If you were to leave at the wrong time, you might very well be killed when the Rings fire."

Mendez then spoke seriously to the Construct.

'Would you try and stop us if we decide to leave?"

"I most certainly will not! You and your companions are the children of my creators Reclaimer, and thus you have authority on many matters, I was built to safe guard this world and all of those who would use it to be safe if the worst happened. While I do not understand why you would leave this beautiful world, it is your decision. If you leave then I will fall back to my secondary programming directive, and that is to maintain and supervise this Shield World until it is needed once more as a shield against the sword."

"Is there any shipyard outside of the Shield World in deep space?"

"Yes, there is an operational shipyard outside near the Dyson Sphere, it is a construction and maintenance facility but it is not able to make higher class ships for extended operations, merely transportation and scouting vessels, it can be upgraded to a more advanced facility to produce better ships, but that is about it, The facility itself had heavy particle shielding and is very much safe for habitation if needed. Would you like me to activate a Slipspace portal to the facility Reclaimer?"

The others then looked at one another and Catherine nodded, they had time to plan this all out and Catherine nodded. They watched when the Monitor activated the teleportation grid, but suddenly the portal began to glow very erratically.

"What's going on?!"

Joyous Rebirth looked it over and replied.

"Something odd has happened….it seems that the Slipspace Portal as opened in a different location than the facility. Give me a moment."

The others waited and they were understandably nervous until the Monitor spoke.

"The portal has somehow been redirected, the portal seems very stable and there seems to be no danger on the other side, however I cannot specify what has happened, but I have no doubt that there is not much danger through the portal, however the portal is not stable and I can only hold it for at least half an hour until I have to reset and repower the systems to make up for the mistakes, however, at this point, what you do now is up to you Reclaimer, I can only hold the portal for s short time if you wish to take a chance in seeing where this altered portal will lead.."

Kelly wasted no time and got out her MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle and spoke.

"I'll go ahead and check it out, if anything is wrong, I'll head on back."

The others looked on and nodded with Fred and Linda at the ready, as well as Tom, Lucy, Ash, Mark, Olivia, Cade, Max, Leena, and Jake as they readied their weapons. Kelly then stepped through and soon enough they waited. Minutes later,, they heard the sound of Kelly whistling the all clear signal that Mendez, Catherine, Fred, and Linda knew. As the Spartans moved ahead to secure a perimeter, Mendez went next and as Catherine was about to step through the portal, she turned and spoke to Joyous Rebirth.

"It's time for me to say good bye. It's been a pleasure talking with you."

"It has been a pleasure speaking to you as well Reclaimer, should you and your people return, I will be more than happy to let this Shield World open for you when the time comes."

With that, and the fact that none of the others returned harmed, the woman walked through the portal.

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In the Nirvana…

Dr. Catherine and SCPO Mendez as well as Fred, Linda, Tom, Lucy, Ash, Mark, Olivia, Cade, Max, Leena, Jake, and Kelly looked all the data over as the elderly Captain of the Nirvana explained the situation with the Harvesters, while John and Cortana told them the information that shocked them considerably…

The war between the UNSC and the Covenant was over, and the UNSC had won the battle, with the help of the Covenant Separatists, the Master Chief went into full detail about how the Elites had found out about the Halo Ring's purpose and how they had been deceived by the Prophets and sided with the UNSC.

Kelly and the other Spartan IIs had been somewhat familiar with the whole event, but the Spartan IIs were not and many of them were not very welcoming of the news that the Elites were now on their side. Many of them and those who made up the Spartan III program were all orphans of the UNSC-Covenant War and they all vowed revenge on the Covenant which was why the agreed to take part in the Spartan III Program in the first place, which was headed by Colonel James Ackerson. To think that the war was over was something that they were having a very hard time believing, as well as the fact that the UNSC had aligned with the Separatists and the Elites as well.

The information about the fact that they were in another dimension however was something the really caught the others, of all the things they had thought were possible using the technology in the Shield World to escape from it, the fact that they had been able to use Slipspace to open a dimensional gateway was something that even Dr. Catherine E, Halsey had not considered with her plans as she had no idea that this event would occur when they had only planned to have ship ready to take them back to the UNSC so they could help in the war effort as best they could. They had not expected to land in a new dimension, far from it…

Parfait then told them that their attempt had conceded with the Paeksis, massive power fluctuations in the previous battle with the Harvesters and both their attempts must have somehow crossed over as this Paeksis was the prototype model and had quite a great deal of quirks as it was a semi sentient power source.

Dr. Catherine expressed great interest in the technology and then they headed back to the situation at hand…the battles with the new foes known as the Harvesters. When they were told that the Harvesters were once from Earth, but had gone mad and sought to destroy all other humans for their own survival, they were all surprised, the only one remaining calm was of course SCPO Mendez who was unfazed by the reports handed to them by the Master Chief.

The leader of the Nirvana Fire Teams then showed the records on the worlds that had been attacked, as well as video records of the Harvesters current standing forces and what had been happening in this world when he and Cortana got there. How they had been part of the Nirvana's crew ever since they were in this dimension. As well as how Cortana had turned from an AI to a living breathing woman.

That was yet another bone of contention as Dr. Halsey had no idea how could Cortana have a human body of all things and she decided to examine her later, but it was nice to her in some degree to see Cortana again as well as John himself, both of them were very important to her as Cortana was something of a daughter to her and John….well, that was a very different story as well.

After the Master Chief was finished with his report on the Harvesters and the threat they posed on the human colonies here in this dimension, Kelly spoke first.

"If you need help John, you've got it. I'm with you."

Linda nodded as well.

"Same here."

Fred nodded. While he was at a much higher rank than John, he had always respected and trusted John and he knew that John was a lot more experienced dealing with the Harvesters than he was. Fred had never fought the Flood before and these Harvesters were certainly different from the Covenant that he was familiar with.

"I'm with you on this."

Franklin Mendez knew that with the situation as it was, there was no way they could replicate the event them to return to the UNSC and since there were enemies to fight, he was all right with that and nodded to his former student.

"I'll do what I can. If this is the situation here and no doubt no matter where we go, these Harvesters will be hunting us, we might as well fight."

The other Spartans were not very happy but they could do little at the moment and it was something that John had to watch out for. He had no idea that there was another Spartan Program going on and he wondered just how these would do in a fight with the Harvesters. he knew he would need as many allies as he could get and so did the Nirvana, the war with the Harvesters was going to go to a whole new level soon enough and he knew that sooner or later, the Harvesters would unleash new weapons, except these would target him most of all.

Catherine thought about how much things had changed. She was wondering what was going to happen once they were going to meet these Harvesters. The only things she hoped for was that they would get the chance to contact Earth, if what John said was true, then the UNSC would be able to rebuild and she wanted to be there to see it all happen.

There was no doubt however in her mind that these Harvesters would not take kindly to the losses they have suffered thus far.

(They no doubt are already blowing a gasket as the old saying goes.)

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On the Harvester home-world…

The Council was very much in an uproar at the news of the loss of yet ANOTHER Battleship and knowing that this was done by the VanDreads was something that was like a burr shoved up their rear ends. They wanted to kill the Nirvana and the news of the latest weapon tests proved to be very promising, this new weapon could very well destroy and cripple the VanDreads…

And their new weapons to deal with the Spartan were ready…their Spartan Killers were ready, and soon, the Spartan will fall!!!

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To be continued…

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Author's notes:

Not too much now is it? It's not the best at the moment, but you have to make do with what you can make at the time available to you.

This is the Prologue of VanDread Halo The Second Stage after all, and therefore, there is no action at the moment as the Spartan IIs and the Spartans IIIs get ready for what will be a new campaign, however, with Catherine's desire to have the Spartan IIIs stop fighting to lead the normal lives that they had before the wars broke out, can the Spartan IIs be seen in combat?

We'll just have to wait and see in the long run now won't we?

As for Jessica al-Cygni Johnson, she will make her debut in the coming chapters of VanDread Halo The Second Stage and she is as tough, skilled, and gung ho as her father Avery J, Johnson was. And since Johnson is a Spartan I due to his time in Project ORION, you can say that Jessica is a Spartan I.I and will be the very first to be featured in this story.

However, keep in mind that she will NOT be the only one in the coming chapters, feel free to speculate on who else is joining the gang soon.

The Nirvana will not be alone as many had asked me if I will bring the UNSC Spirit of Fire into play, I will, but it will not be the only ship as well from the UNSC forces, Hold on to your hats as the Nirvana will be joined by not one, not two, but THREE UNSC ships, what classification they are and who are onboard….I'll leave that up to you readers to figure out.

Bye and see you all on Chapter 1 of VanDread Halo the Second Stage!!!


	2. Chapter 2

VanDread Halo The Second Stage

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to VanDread or Halo…

Chapter 1

New Arrival…

( ): Thoughts

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In the Nirvana's Medical Bay…

"All right Cortana, hold still…"

Cortana nodded as Dr. Catherine took a blood sample with a small injection and as soon as she was done, she placed the blood into a DNA scanner and programmed it to scan for the gene markers that determined Cortana's genetic origin.

Dr. Catherine had been very surprised by the fact that Cortana was now human, and she had been dedicated to getting as much answers as she could in order to determine just what were the reasons why Cortana not only was now a living breathing person, but also was still able to do the things a normal human being could do. She had run tests on her physical and mental abilities for the past few days and now she was doing a gene test.

"How is it Dr, Catherine?"

"We'll see in a few minutes Cortana…"

The two looked at the computer monitor and in came the results, showing that Cortana for all intents as well as purposes was 100% human, though with some abilities greater than a normal human such as an increase in her metabolic rates which no doubt was due to her ability to enter the Holo-tank on the bridge of the Nirvana to return to her AI form, there were humans with higher metabolic rates but Cortana's rate was bit higher than the normal. She also had higher base line reflexes as well as some increased physical strength though nowhere near the caliber of some of the Spartans including John. The data proved that she was not a construct, but purely human.

"Remarkable….and you say you have no knowledge on how it happened Cortana?"

Cortana shook her head and that made Dr. Catherine even more interested in finding out just how the Paeksis worked, if it had the power to cross dimensions, then there was a chance it could be a Forerunner artifact or a prototype of some sort. The UNSC genius thought hard of the implications before her as she looked over Cortana's genetic data, as well as the results of her other tests on Cortana previously conducted days before.

Since Cortana was essentially a program that was born through the use of her flash cloned brain, she was basically Catherine's younger self or in this case, her' daughter', that was enough to make Catherine Halsey wonder how to handle this fact. She had never given birth to Cortana the way a normal human baby would be born and thus it was rather unsettling for her to have a younger version of herself alive and around her. However, she had a soft spot for Cortana the same way she had a soft spot for John when he was starting out the Spartan II Program all those years ago.

She still recalled how she met John in Elysium in John's home system with Jacob Keyes all those years before, he had been a foot taller than others in his age group and had remarkable reflexes as well as intellect and physical strength and truth be told, he was nice looking as well. He was a smart young man and had been tested with a coin and asked which side would land face up, he replied by grabbing the coin in mid air and correctly stating which side was face up. And while she felt guilty for placing John and the others into this life as Spartans, it did her good to know that they were alive and safe.

It still made her sad to know that they were facing a new foe once more, but she admitted that she could never talk John, Fred, Kelly, or Linda out of fighting, the will and ability to fight was now 'in their blood' so to speak so she couldn't take that way. However, she had been hearing how John had inspired many of the people who met him, she had spoken to some of the Talvernians on how John and his assembled Nirvana Fire teams had helped them save their people, as well as hearing how much the women in the Nirvana's Fire Teams respected their commander. She even heard from Cortana about the incidents of two children saluting John and wishing to join the Spartans, and the description of the little Talvernian girl hugging John and calling him hero gave her a sense of pride.

"Dr. Catherine?"

Catherine turned to Cortana who seemed to be deep in thought and she spoke to her.

"What is it Cortana?"

"I want to know, am I really human?"

"What do you mean by that? You are genetically, physically, and mentally a human being Cortana."

"I know….but…it's hard to explain these thoughts I have about what happened to me when I have them, it's been months since it happened but I still wish I knew how to act like a human more effectively, I have all the knowledge of being human….but I've NEVER been human myself, I was just a program after all."

Catherine wondered just how she was going to answer Cortana's questions, she understood just where Cortana was going with such questions, unlike her, Cortana had no parents to speak of, she had no brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, and more, she had never experienced childhood, adolescence, young adulthood and more. Though it was true that Cortana retained all the knowledge she had with her ever since her creation, she had never experienced them the way a flesh and blood person did until recently. It was no doubt taking some time for Cortana to think all this out, and it was somewhat pleasing that Cortana would tell her these things instead of others.

"Cortana….being human is never easy for anyone, if you like I could help you."

Cortana looked at Catherine with surprise and eagerness, she knew for a fact that unlike her, Dr. Catherine Halsey had lived as a full human ever since she was born so she would know more. She had been able to help Dita in dealing with some hurdles in her own life, but this was the first time she could talk about her own problems as well.

"Thank you Dr. Catherine…."

As the two decided to chat for a while for Catherine to learn just how Cortana had been doing since entering this world, Catherine decided to run one last test and saw that her DNA and Cortana's was full on match. This made her feel a bit more unsettled, as she would have to get used to seeing Cortana as herself essentially.

This would take time to get used to…but if there was one thing that was true about Dr. Catherine Halsey, when something piqued her interest, she was going to go at full tilt to find out as much as she could on the subject that got her attention. She then noted the coin that she had used to test John when he was still a young man, and couldn't help but feel that the fact that John had given it to Cortana in the form of a necklace was of great importance to Cortana.

--------

In the UNSC section of the Nirvana…

BOOM!!!!

The Spartans were currently taking the usual rounds of firing at the shooting range in order to get back into the groove of things while John wore his MJOLNIR Mark VI, while Linda, Fred, and Kelly wore their MJOLNIR Mark VI with the upgrades that they got previously before going to Onyx. The UNSC Spartans were quite a sight for the crew, it had taken a number of weeks to a few months in order for the rest of the Nirvana crew in order to get used to the sight of just one Spartan, having to deal with three more Spartans was getting to be a problem for them all.

John-117 knew that to be true, it had taken him some time to be accepted into the crew, and there was no doubt Fred, Kelly, and Linda would need to adjust with the rest of the crew. The Spartan IIIs were also something of a concern of his, seeing the young children reminded him of his military childhood quite easily. However, he had his doubts on their effectiveness, despite Kelly's assurances that despite their youth, the Spartan IIs would be more than able to make up for their age.

He was aware of the fact that the young Spartans would have to be isolated for a bit in order to adopt to the crew for the time being, even when he was not able to see the young men and women of Spartan III Beta Company and Gamma Company in action, he could tell that they were going to have to get used to dealing with the facts that they were not only no longer at war with the Covenant, but now with a new foe as well as the facts that both the UNSC and the Covenant Separatists are now in alliance with one another, though it had been some time since he had heard of news back from their world.

The de facto leader of the Spartan Blue Team placed those thoughts aside as his team finished their training for the day. He placed his Ma5C ICWS Assault Rifle aside with the safety lock on as Kelly placed aside her MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle, Fred did the same with his MA5B ICWS Assault Rifle, and Linda placed aside her SRS99D-S2 AM Sniper Rifle on her back with the safety on as well.

As the Spartans gathered, the newly promoted Lieutenant Junior Grade Spartan Fred spoke to John.

"How soon do you think we're going to encounter these Harvesters Squad Leader?"

Despite the fact that he outranked John, Fred always considered John as his leader, and so did the other Spartans, they considered the master Chief as their de facto leader ever since they were children. This stared long ago back on Reach during a special exercise. When they were eight years old, the young Spartans were in a field exercise in a forest in the snow covered mountainous areas on Reach and get to a Pelican for extraction before the end of the day. As soon as they arrived in the starting area, it was then that they were told that they would have to leave the last one behind or they would suffer painful punishment. John did not agree with that and revealed his leadership skills as he rallied his fellow Spartans and gave them a plan to work with. Naturally John was not comfortable with the role, in fact he was surprised they gave him that role to begin with.

But it paid off, they were able to incapacitate the unknown soldiers guarding the Pelican as John was not going to take the chance of thinking that the soldiers would be friendly with the children. With the help of their AI instructor Deja, he and the others were able to hijack the drop ship after taking out the soldiers and he made sure no one was left behind, the mission was successful.

But it was not long for the consequences to come back to bit them in the posterior. Chief Mendez was not happy with the result for several reasons. The first was his Marines were harmed, and the second was that no one was left behind. However, John's actions had him promoted as Squad Leader for all the other Spartans and they all looked up to him as the unquestioned leader of their group.

Besides that, Fred knew that these Harvesters were a totally different foe than the Covenant as well as the Flood, he had never fought the Flood before but John had and his experience in these matters was greater than his own so he would need to learn as much as he could from John in order to be a good leader.

John then replied.

"I'm not sure yet Fred, but I know they would not be silent forever, sooner or later, they are going to make their move."

"If they are, I am going to take a peek and see just how good they are."

"You'll get your chance Fred, you all will…anyway…is it true? Was Kurt really alive when you met him? What about Will, why weren't they with you all back there on Onyx?"

Fred, Kelly, and Linda thought about what they were going to say to John, they knew that Kurt had not always been on John's good graces when they started out, but John grew to trust Kurt's feelings as well as his talents, to tell John that they lost Kurt AND Will was not going to sit well with their brother Spartan. It was something that all of them took hard though as Spartans, they hid their emotions from others, but never themselves.

Fred decided to fill John on what exactly happened back on Onyx.

--------

In another part of the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn…

Chief Mendez was busy training with Hibiki as he looked over the young man before him, he was still a kid, but he did show promise, no doubt his world had forged him to be a tough, no nonsense kind of kid when dealing with physical exertion. Right now Hibiki was doing sit ups on the command deck and building up his strength while the UNSC Marine officer observed him in action.

(This kid has promise, give him a full military application as well as several years of basic and advanced training, he might not make a half bad Marine despite being a civilian.)

Hibiki had been surprised to see his mentor salute this older man, but after learning that he was the one who had trained the Master Chief when he was young , he quickly showed respect to Franklin Mendez. Despite being young, Hibiki could tell from the way he moved, that Mendez was a seasoned soldier, and his eyes were the kind seen in gruff warriors in the movies he had seen back on Tarak, only difference was that Mendez was no actor, but the real deal. He also learned from Cortana that Mendez was a tough veteran and like the Master Chief, had won quite a number of military commendations and medals, all of which were won in battle.

Unlike the arrogant and self serving officials back on Talark, Hibiki could tell that Franklin Mendez was very serious and by the book in his way of fighting and living, which made him very wary on getting on the UNSC Marine officer's bad side. Besides, considering the fact that Franklin Mendez had trained his mentor, he could learn a lot more from the highly decorated veteran UNSC Marine officer as well.

As soon as he was done with his physical training, the Talark teen got up and stood at attention before Franklin who then spoke to him in the same voice that he had spoken to John when he and his fellow Spartans were under his watch. While Hibiki was neither a citizen of the UNSC as well as a member of the UNSCDF Marine Corps, Franklin decided to address him as such since he had gained considerable training from John, and seeing the footage of Hibiki's first combat performance in killing a Harvester Shock Trooper as well as the records of the plans he had cooked up in several critical mission convinced Mendez to treat Hibiki as a soldier of the UNSC.

"Marine! TWENTY ROUNDS AROUND THE DECK! DOUBLE TIME!!"

"SIR! YES SIR!!!"

Hibiki took off to a run around the Marine officer as Franklin observed him. Back then he was usually tired and panting, but after getting the right dietary allowance, eating good food, gaining proper physical training as well as medical treatment, Hibiki had changed, he had undergone a grown spurt and was taller now than he was before as well as physically stronger and better built than he was when he had stowed away on the Ikazuchi all those months before.

As he did his rounds, Franklin timed him and checked on the data pad Hibiki's previous performances under John and added his own reports, while this was not a military ship by all standards as well as not being a UNSC ship, the soldier knew that since they were now fighting a new foe, he was back to fighting in his element.

Hibiki and Mendez were not alone either in the section that Hibiki was training in as Tom, Lucy, Mark, Olivia, Cade, Ash, Max, Leena, and Jake were there and they too were also training in their own fashions while still wearing their SPI Mark II Armor. The Spartan IIIs were not very comfortable with the idea of being in a civilian ship as well as hearing that the war was over, they had wanted desperately to fight with the Covenant and now here they all were, stuck in a new dimension and fighting a foe they knew next to nothing about.

And to hear that the war between the UNSC and the Covenant was now over before they had a chance to avenge their families grated their nerves deeply. It was not long before Ash made his anger known as he punched a punching bag so hard it ripped through the covering.

RIP!!!

"Damn it!!!!"

Tom heard that and spoke to Ash.

"What's going on Ash?"

"None of your damn concern Tom!"

The survivor of Spartan III Beta Company however was not going to let this slid, he might only be a year or so older than Ash, but he was still his senior and he had trained Ash alongside Kurt, Mendez and the other DIs.

"It is my business, you're wasting your effort and strength on a punching bag."

Ash glared and the others could tell that the leader Team Saber of Gamma Company was in a very foul mood. And Ash proved it as he spoke evenly.

"I joined the Spartan III Program so I can kill those alien bastards who butchered my family and everyone I cared about back home, and now here we are and the war is over, what the heck are going to do now?"

"You heard reports Ash, these Harvesters are attacking human colonies, just like the Covenant did…"

"Just like the Covenant….they AREN'T the Covenant Tom! I trained my whole life to fight the Covenant, not these Harvesters or any of their forces, it just doesn't feel right."

Tom could relate to Ash and so could the others, they had indeed joined the Spartan III Program willingly to avenge the loved ones they lost in the UNSC-Covenant War, now that they learned that their side had won and the war was now over, it felt that they had failed and they had been able to do nothing to keep their respective pledge to avenge their families. With the war over, there was no purpose for them anymore.

However it was not long before Mendez came on the scene and spoke to them sternly while Hibiki continued his rounds. He had overheard their conversation and he was not liking the attitude that Ash was showing.

"Spartan IIIs!!! Front and Center!!!"

The young Spartan IIIs moved to the command in Franklin's voice and he spoke seriously to them.

"You might not be fighting the Covenant anymore, but that's excuse to start forgetting that you are part of the military now! You fight who are the enemy designated by your superiors without question, is that understood?"

"Yes Sir!!!"

Mendez knew that he was going against Catherine's desire to let the Spartan IIIs stop fighting and live as normal people, but he knew that they were not going to be easy to change. Maybe Catherine would succeed in making Tom, Cade, Lucy, Ash, Mark, Olivia, Max, Leena, and Jake change their views of fighting someday….but considering the situation before them, there was still a need for them to get ready for the possible need to combat.

"All right then….fall in and give me twenty rounds with Hibiki Tokai! MOVE!!!!"

The Spartan IIIs fell into step and moved out, now joining the Talark teen in his training.

--------

In the Conference Room…

"We've got quite a group now it seems, not only are there new faces in this ship, but we have new Spartans here as well."

Magno sighed as she thought about all that had happened only a few days ago. The sight of the new Spartans was something she had never thought she would ever be able to see in her life time. It was hard enough to not be impressed by the feats made by the Master Chief in combat with the Harvesters, as well as Cortana's own abilities and contributions to the survival of the Nirvana and the crew. Now to have these new individuals in their crew something else entirely in the mind of the elderly pirate Captain..

"I have to agree….this is highly unusual."

Buzam said as she sat down to observe the various situations, the conversations between Cortana and Catherine, as well as the training between Hibiki and Mendez as well as the young children who were still wearing the SPI Mark II Armor. It was hard to imagine these children were already soldiers at such a young age, but there was no denying the way they acted and carried themselves, they were dangerous young men and women to say the least.

"Tell me about it, but at least we've got some new help in dealing with the Harvesters, after our victory over them with Hibiki's plan of using that Gas Giant as a star, I can bet the Harvesters will do anything and everything to kill us."

Gascogne said as she played with the metal rod she normally had on her when she was deep in thought or planning to say something important.

"That's true….but still, we can't just accept them already, it took us all quite some time to adjust to having the Master Chief and Cortana onboard, as well as the Talvernians, now we have several Spartans here with us as well as head of the Spartan II Program, creator of the MJOLNIR Power Armor and Cortana's 'mother' as well as the Master Chief's trainer. The crew is still reeling from this as well, we need to take this slowly, they might be potential allies, but that does not mean we can just get used to them."

Magno nodded at that.

"Buzam is right, this will take our crew quite some time to get used to so I suggest we be ready to iron out any differences and problems that might arise between out crew, the Talvernians as well as our guests. We can at least speak through both John and Cortana since they are very familiar with the others, more so than we are."

The others nodded and then Buzam spoke.

"Captain….do you remember what The Master Chief told us about the Spartan II Program?"

"I do, it's hard to imagine that he was conscripted then he was just a boy. I can't deny the results of his life, but still….I think I will have a conversation with Dr. Catherine soon enough to find out why she allowed this to happen. But now is not the time, we need to take the time to get them settled in and help get the crew to be comfortable around them….namely those Spartan IIIs, I can't help but feel that they will need to be watched for a while."

Buzam and Gascogne nodded in agreement, the Spartan IIIs seem quite different from John and his fellow Spartan IIs in many ways. They were more aggressive, more fierce, though the ones named Tom and Lucy seemed somewhat less aggressive, no doubt due to being the seniors of the bunch. They wanted all the details they could from Catherine on the Spartan II Program and also to figure out the story behind Tom and the other Spartan IIIs.

--------

A day later…

Hibiki gave a groan as he woke up in his bed in the Forward Unto Dawn and got a nearby bottle of water, he took a good gulp of the cold liquid to get his system going as he stood up, he then headed for the refresher to clean his face with some water. As he finished, her got dressed and thought about his dream.

He saw himself fighting the Harvesters as before, with Dita and him merging their machines to form their VanDread and blasting away, but suddenly they were stuck by a red beam that seemed to disable and damage them he then recalled seeing meia and Jura being taken out by the blast in their own Dreads, the sight of that plus being alone in the VanDread with Dita being unresponsive to his words filled him with anger as he tried to fight back, but his weapons became useless, he then saw the Nirvana being destroyed by the beams. And then….a bright explosion as the ship was destroyed and the blast engulfed them all.

"Was that a dream….or worse?"

Hibiki had no idea why he had that dream of all things, but he didn't like it at all in the least, the idea of Meia, Jura, and Dita dying before his eyes as well as everyone in the Nirvana was something he disliked and it made him ache at the thought. The three Dread pilots were also deep in his thoughts as well.

The thought of Dita being killed by the Harvesters was sickening to his stomach, as well as the thought of them attacking Meia, and Jura as well, for some reason, they were tied together in not just forming the VanDreads, but also through the Paeksis, he had no idea why he felt it that way, but he did either way. The thought of them dying under his watch was painful to his thoughts and emotions though he didn't know why he felt that way.

Hibiki then placed those thoughts aside as he got to the shower and took a bath….he had a lot to think about at the moment and maybe he would have to speak to some people in order to figure out just why that dream came to him of all things.

--------

In the Vanguard Hanger…

Hibiki was currently dressed in his normal clothes and looking at his partner, deep in thought as he had taken a mug of hot coffee from one of the Food and Drink Dispensers in the Forward Unto Dawn before coming here. He thought about the dream and why it was so real to him.

"Mr. Alien?"

Hibiki turned and was surprised to see Dita in her pajamas, Meia in her comfortable flight suit minus her chest and shoulder padding/armor, and Jura in a night dress of pink silk with a thicker silk number as an outer garment of the same color. He was curious why they were out as well as he was so early in the morning, but when he saw the troubled faces they had, he had a very accurate idea on what happened to make them be like this.

"You had that dream too?"

Dita was surprised and spoke with considerable worry.

"You had that dream too?"

Hibiki nodded and he gave a deep sigh.

"I did and I didn't like in the very least."

Jura sighed and rubbed her head.

"That was really weird….why did that dream feel so real, and why do we have the same dream?"

Meia was silent as she thought over the possibilities before them to explain the dream that they all shared at this moment, she then spoke seriously.

"I don't think it was a dream, it's way beyond that if we had the very same dream and it felt too real to be the figment of imagination."

"So what do you think was it leader?"

Meia looked at her comrades and Hibiki.

"Maybe it was a message from the Paeksis, we were all exposed to the Paeksis when the ships merged, so maybe it was some form of communication from the Paeksis. That's the only thing to me that makes some level of sense."

Hibiki replied to that.

"Maybe….but I don't buy it as some message to tell us we're not going to make it. It's more like a warning to me."

"Warning?"

"Something will happen soon….we know what might happen if we fail, but now that we know, we can be ready."

The others thought about Hibiki's words until Jura gave a cry of pain and rubbed her forehead, Dita was concerned as well as Meia and Hibiki but she assured them that she was just feeling a bit of pain and all she needed was a chance to get some extra sleep and if worse came to worse, she would go to the Medical Bay and get some medicine from Duero.

Hibiki decided to eat in the galley of the Nirvana for the moment, and then he would speak to his mentor to see what he should do about this dream, vision, or warning.

--------

In the Engineering Bay…

Catherine was currently working with Parfait as the head of the MJOLNIR Power Armor Series looked over the design of the Power Armors developed by the head engineer. Apart from the developed units was also John's Paeksis upgraded MJOLNIR Mark VI Armor. The genius behind the Spartan II Program, Third Generation Smart AIs, and the MJOLNIR Series had to admit that for less sophisticated versions of her project they were not that bad.

She had taken the time to study the technology used by the women of Megele, she was impressed that they were able to make use of lasers in many ways, the UNSC still used basic ballistic weapons as well as coil guns, and the only energy based weapon they had in their arsenals for their soldiers was the Spartan Laser. It was a surprise to see laser rifles as well as Laser Rings.

The other forms of technology from Megele were surprising to say the least and were not so bad as well. However, for their technological process the weapons and technology appeared to be ill suited for certain situations as the laser rifles were not apparently conditioned for outside use from the ship. As she looked over the designs of Parfait's power armor, she spoke to the head engineer of the Nirvana.

"These are not so bad, they don't match the MJOLNIR all that much, but this is still good work."

Parfait nodded with a blush as she looked with respect towards Catherine as she could tell that Catherine was a genius in her own fields and being an engineer, Parfait was eager to learn a lot form others. And the chance to speak to the creator of the MJOLNIR series was something that she was very happy to be able to do as she wanted to get input from the woman who created such a power and impressive system.

"Thank you Dr. Catherine! I know this is nowhere near able to come close to your work with the MJOLNIR but it's the best I could come up with on such short notice. My people have never attempted to try creating Power Armor before so we're very much in the dark on how to make suits like the Master Chief's MJOLNIR, the only things we have that come remotely close are our special environment suits."

"I see, but the changes you have are rather unique, the UNSC had a hard time coming up with Power Armor as well. It took a number of years before we got to what we have used before."

"I guess….still, this armor can certainly of great aid for the ground teams if we can finally field test them in battle conditions."

Catherine nodded and she asked the head engineer an important question.

"How did you design them?"

"Well…I knew there was no way I could study the Master Chief's MJOLNIR due to it being upgraded by the Paeksis as well as the fact that my fellow women back on Megele have never delved deeply into the use of Power Armor for our forces, so I had no prior knowledge on how they worked. But I understood the principles on how they operated. However, the MJOLNIR was meant for Spartans like the Master Chief so there was no way any of the crew could wear it, I had input from Cortana about it so I decided to make a variant that could make due and could be used without having the physiology of the Master Chief as well as the augmentations."

"Good reasoning there."

"Thank you, so in order to make it user friendly for people who were not like the Master Chief…"

Parfait then explained all of what she had done in developing the suits and Catherine was quick to understand the crew principles that led to the creation of the units that were before her at this moment. She nodded patiently as she listened to Parfait's words on how she had developed the Power Armor units before him, as well on how she worked on making the suits able to move and function without using the reactive liquid metal crystal as well as the neural interface system used in the MJOLNIR. Catherine listened even more as Parfait explained how she had made her own shield system for the Power Armor and while those were nowhere near as advanced as the MJOLNIR Series or that of both the Covenant and the Forerunners, Parfait's approach to the Energy Shield System was very original.

"And that's how we designed them….of course we haven't really tested them in a real battle field situation so I can't really have practical field data to make adjustments. Suffice to say, they are still in testing mode Dr. Catherine."

"Hmmm…not bad at all Parfait, how long have you been an engineer?"

Parfait thought about it and replied a few moments later.

"I guess I was always something of a gear head since I first held an antique wrench when my Ohma gave it to me, I've always wanted to invent things since I was young and being in the pirates was a good choice since I liked the independence from Megele, besides, I wanted to see all machines in action, plus the Paeksis Prototype here on the Nirvana is always a patient of mine."

"Patient? You consider the Paeksis your patient?"

"Yeah, it always acts up like a human being, and I always say that anything that moves is alive, even if it's not a living thing. Sometimes I feel like a doctor to it when it ever gives me and my fellow engineers a hissy fit."

Catherine laughed a bit at that and then decided to do a secondary scan through of the Power Armor suits to make sure she got all the data so she could run some data simulations on them for a test base while on the ship. While Parfait's variants were not as advanced or powerful as her MJOLNIR it was good enough for human beings who were not like the Spartans. The MJOLNIR could never be worn by normal humans, but Parfait's versions appeared to be more friendly for the average human and considering the records she had seen of the Harvesters they were going to need every advantage they could get.

She then decided to do a thorough scan of the Master Chief's Paeksis enhanced MJOLNIR Mark VI to see just what the Paeksis had done to the systems in the Master Chief's MJOLNIR Mark VI Armor at a much later date, the data she got from John and Cortana told her that the enhancements made by the Paeksis to his MJOLNIR Mark VI were very helpful in the battles that he had been in ever since arriving here in this dimension and fighting the Harvesters in combat, but still, she wanted to see more and make some decisions if there were ways she could increase the power of Fred, Linda and Kelly's own MJOLNIR Mark VI.

It was then that one of the head engineers ran up to the two and spoke seriously.

"Parfait! We've got a problem with the Paeksis!!!"

Both Parfait and Catherine moved to the Paeksis Reactor room as Chief, parfait's second in command spoke to her leader.

"It's not good Parfait, for some reason, the power ration and output went down considerably, it's not life threatening to the ship but it's certainly unexpected!"

"When did this happen?"

"No less than ten minutes ago, we were doing a routine systems check then the Paeksis just went like this."

Catherine looked at the controls and quickly began to type in a rapid sequence, surprising both Chief and Parfait, she had heard from Cortana that Dr. Catherine was considered the finest mind n the USNC and was highly respected by many members of the military, and seeing her in action was great, Catherine then turned to the head engineer and spoke.

"This Paeksis is the first prototype right?"

"Yeah, it was developed as the test bed model for all the power sources that were like it, I have no idea what it's going to do since it's a prototype."

Parfait then turned and spoke to the Paeksis through the window with an exasperated tone.

"You're a real trouble maker you know that?!"

Catherine smirked a bit and both of them went to work figuring out just why the Paeksis was acting like this, the chief UNSC scientist was very much impressed by the Paeksis and decided to run some tests of her own but considering that it was somehow a living entity, she would have to be very careful about how she would approach to treating and studying it

--------

In one of the hallways of the Nirvana…

Hibiki was busy getting his thought organized on that dream of his and he subconsciously touched his arm where a wound was supposed to have been in the dream he had at that time. He was so deep in thought that he was unaware of the fact that he was being followed.

"Mr. Alien!!!"

He turned as he spotted none other than Dita herself, still wearing her pajamas, the redhead seemed to be in a very happy mood though why that was the case was still very much unknown to the Tarak teen, he turned around while wearing his normal clothes and spoke to the young Dread pilot.

"Yeah? What is it now?"

Hibiki was surprised to see that Dita suddenly seemed very shy and bashful, there was red in her cheeks and she was twiddling her fingers together, plus to his amazement, she was stuttering.

"I…well…I-um….I have…"

This was a first to Hibiki's mind as he knew that Dita was not the kind of person to leave a conversation hanging the way she was doing now, and for some reason he couldn't help but feel some sense of apprehension from the way she was acting around him all of a sudden, and that was already confusing in itself. He decided to let her speak on her own time as doing otherwise was considered….rude, though why he never knew.

Dita finally managed to get her train of thought back on track and spoke to Hibiki.

"I was wondering, when you would come to my room, remember, you promised me?"

The very second that came out of Dita's mouth, the Tarak teen began to panic, he remembered in that instant the promise he had made to Dita when they were facing the Harvester battleship only a full ten days ago. He had no idea why he was acting this way, but suddenly the idea of being alone in a room with Dita was somehow making him very wary.

"W-What are you saying?! I can't just go into your room right now!"

"But…you promised me Mr. Alien."

"I know….but I can't just go there now!"

"So when are you coming? Tomorrow? The day after?"

As Dita asked those questions, she moved closer to Hibiki, further embarrassing the already confused Tarak teen as to why he was acting this way towards Dita of all people. He decided to reply and try to get his head straight on this whole thing at a much later date.

"I'll see if I have time, now I've got to go and eat!"

Dita smiled and spoke.

"Then maybe we can eat together Mr. Alien!"

Hibiki turned, still blushing at the moment as well as still very confused at his reactions as well as the circumstances he had just found himself in at this moment and he replied.

"I'd rather dine alone right now Dita."

"Please don't be like that Mr. Alien! I'll even cook you some of the food you like so much!"

Hibiki knew that he was not going to get anywhere at the moment and arguing with Dita was not going to be simple, and apart from that, he was not in the mood to see Dita in tears, it was not something he wanted to see as well as the fact he might get into trouble with the pirates yet again.

"Oh all right Dita, just promise me to not mention me visiting your room while I'm eating okay?"

As the two left, they were unaware of the fact that they were being watched by Meia who was not wearing her chest and shoulder padding, she was still trying to get used to the sight of a fellow woman like Dita being this close to a man and she couldn't help but wonder how things had gotten ever since the time they had raided the Ikazuchi, she also wondered about her own relationship with Hibiki.

She might not be as crazy over Hibiki as Dita apparently was, but she still found him to be quite different from the regular perceptions of her people when it concerned men, she also wondered about the dream that they each had since she wondered of the ability to fuse their fighters together had an effect on how they felt as well, she felt some level of familiarity with Hibiki though why that was the case was still very much unknown to her.

"So yet another day begins."

Meia turned the new voice and found herself looking at none other than Paiway who was currently writing on her diary and seemingly in a very happy mood. She then spoke in her usual voice.

"Dita is chasing Hibiki yet again."

She then spoke in her cartoony voice using her frog puppet.

"I can't believe that she would be willing to chase a man like, it's really weird though he's not the same as the men we knew back in the day."

That was then that Pyoro suddenly came out of nowhere and spoke.

"Actually that sort of thing is considered to be normal human behavior…hck!"

Meia was somewhat surprised at the sight of Pyoro, for some reason, despite being a machine, the Navi-bot looked sick and even sounded sick, even Paiway after being angry at being interrupted was also surprised by the way Pyoro was acting, the floating robot even began to move like a person being afflicted by the hiccups.

--------

In the Conference Room…

"We're at least ninety days from the home system where our home world of Megele is located, with all the data we've gathered on the Harvesters of Earth and their plan to harvest the internal organs of humans for their own needs. We've also sent pods to both Tarak and Megele but so far we're being ignored since there have been no replies form either world. And there has been no previous reply from the pods that we sent before."

Buzam reported as Magno nodded with a sigh.

"I can't blame them in that regard, after all, even I had a hard time digesting the fact that the harvesters who have caused so much destruction are our own kin left behind on Earth. But I have a feeling we're being ignored for the fact that we are pirates."

Buzam and Gascogne nodded at that, as pirates they preyed on ships from either world so it was to be expected that they would not be seen in a very favorable light by either world and either government.

It was then that Parfait came on the line and Magno took the call.

"What's the problem with the Paeksis now Parfait?"

"I'm not sure, but it's power ratings have dropped to at least eighty percent, and I have no idea what's making this act this way, Dr. Catherine and I are working hard here but right now this situation is not getting any better."

Magno sighed as she sat back on her chair.

"Here we go again."

Buzam then thought it over on what was happening to the ship.

"It could be that the Nirvana is still dealing with the residual effects of the fusion between our cruiser, the Ikazuchi and the Forward Unto Dawn."

"Or it could be that we're dealing with the integration between men and women."

Magno looked at Gascogne and asked the head supplier what she meant by that.

"What do you mean by that Gasco?"

A vein appeared at Gascogne's forehead but she didn't react in the normal fashion of losing her temper, she was in front of the elderly Captain.

"We still don't know much about men and I can bet it's likewise for them as well, it will be a long time before men from Tarak and women of Megele ever get along."

Magno had to agree with Gascogne in that regard as well, it was still going to be hard bridging the gap between the women of her world and the men of Tarak, but if they were going to have a chance at facing the Harvesters and defeating them to make sure that they never wipe them out for their own benefit.

"That might be true, but with all the people we have on this ship, namely the Talvernians, we might be able to bridge the gap. Though how will be interesting to see at this stage, I haven't had this much fun in years, and I'm older than most here already."

--------

In the Forward Unto Dawn…

The Spartans were all around Hibiki as well as Duero and Bart, the two had decided to visit the UNSC section to see how things were going on and while Bart was still not at ease with the Spartans, Duero was more than willing to learn what he could, though he respected the privacy of the Spartans when they asked him to not ask certain questions.

As soon as the tired Tarak teen came in and then flopped on his bunk, the others looked at him as well as Kelly and Linda, the female Spartan IIs had been very curious on who this young guy was and why was it that their Squad Leader had taken him in as well as trained him the same way Chief Mendez had trained them. They had seen his performance and while they were impressed to a degree, they were eager to see just what else was Hibiki capable of for themselves.

Duero and Bart were the first to talk to Hibiki and the tired teen sighed and explained the predicament he was in, to the amusement as well as the curiosity of the two Tarak men while the Spartans were not showing much, though it seemed that they were very curious as to how this was going to play out.

"You make a promise to Dita?"

Hibiki nodded at the question that Duero asked.

"Yeah, I kind of said it by mistake when she called me and before I thought the whole thing through, I said yes."

Kelly then spoke n her usual fashion.

"So now you don't know if you want to go through with going to see her in her room right?"

"Yeah…."

Bart ate some of his food pills and he was also very curious about this despite his unconcerned look and munching on his food.

"I don't see what's the big deal Hibiki, you made the promise so you might as well keep it, go to her room then."

Hibiki turned to Bart and glared as he spoke out.

"Oh yeah?! Why don't you go instead?!"

Bart shook his head and replied seriously.

"I'm not the one who made the promise to Dita remember? You did so why involve me?"

Hibiki moaned at that as Bart did have a point at that and then John spoke out.

"I'm sure she only wants a conversation Hibiki."

"I guess…but what do I say? What exactly am I going to talk to her about? Besides that, I've never been in a girl's room before!"

The Spartans looked at one another and had to agree with Hibiki's point there, however, they also had a feeling that Hibiki was going to have to learn a number of things in order to adjust to the idea of dealing with women in general. That was when one of the Talvernian soldiers walked into the whole group.

Felix looked at the assembled Spartans as well as the men of Tarak and wondered just what was going on at this moment.

"Hey guys, what's going on?"

The Spartans turned and John filled the Talvernian male on the details and Felix grinned at Hibiki.

"You know something Hibiki, sounds like you're being asked out on a date."

Hibiki was confused at that and that was fairly obvious due to the next question he decided to ask the Talvernian soldier just what he meant by a date.

"What's a date?"

Felix looked at the Tarak youth with a considerable measure of surprise, but then grinned as he figured that it was about time the young man from Tarak got an education on the finer points of being with a woman. He sat down and began to think on how to organize his thoughts and say them, of course he decided to be honest with the young man.

"A date is an event between two people who like each other, kind of like a courtship period, that is when the pair get to know one another, find common ground, shared interests, that sort of thing. It can vary between partners as well, some like to have quiet meals and the like, while others love to go to parties and revel, come on, I think you guys on that world of yours MUST know what courtship is?"

Bart and Duero nodded with the young doctor speaking in the behalf of the others.

"Yes, that does happen on Tarak, I happen to know some happy couples."

Felix sweat dropped at that, and even Kelly as well as Linda gave a slight shake of their heads, John and Fred were also not very happy in that regard. The Talvernian soldier and the Spartans were not all that comfortable with the idea of an all male society as they were raised in co-gender environments, though they were aware that same sex couples were known to be in their world and dimension respectively, though such relationships were not common. Felix replied.

"I bet you do Doc, anyway, that is what a date is, and I think that is what Hibiki is getting into if he decides to go to Dita's room, there's no harm in doing that you know….unless….well…you two do the deed. That's when things between you two can get rather interesting."

Hibiki was even more confused by that, and so was Bart as well as Duero.

"What sort of deed are me and Dita supposed to do?"

Felix was a bit confused at first and the recalled that since Hibiki was from an all male society, then he wouldn't know about how things would be between men and women, namely in the very intimate sense. He knew that he was going to cause a panic in the Tarak men, but he already found out that some of his female comrades had mentioned the fact that men and women could be intimate and have children. That was something that was still causing some level of confusion in the women of Megele so there was a chance the same could be done with the men.

"That's another term for…hold on, Doc, you said that you know some couples on Tarak right?"

"Yes."

Felix nodded, this was going to be uncomfortable for him and no doubt the Spartans, but it had to be done so Hibiki would at the very least be aware of just what he was about to walk into the very second he was in Dita's room.

"All right then…were there times that those couples in question expressed their relationship in the more intimate sense and with the use of certain body parts?"

Duero thought about that and then he as well as Hibiki and Bart realized what was it that Felix was referring to and they then gave looks of confusion as the blonde Tarak youth spoke for himself and the others.

"Yes that does happen, we call it…"

The Talvernian however replied.

"You don't need to tell me what it is, trust me I don't need to have a description about the act being done in the way of men."

Felix then spoke as he dropped a bomb on the men of Tarak.

"Anyway let's get back on topic, all right then, you see, there is another way to look at a date, and that involves you doing those exact same things you described….with a woman, though the positioning, actions and the like is rather different."

The result of that was not lost to the Spartans, they did have classes on those sorts of things though they knew that the only Spartan comrade they had who tied the knot was Maria, she was still on Earth, last Fred and the others checked, her family was still safe and no doubt their sister Spartan was back to raising her family despite the fact that it still boggled their minds that Maria even found a guy she was interested in, as well as the fact that the guy had to be very brave to be intimate with one of them.

The reactions of the Tarak men however was a lot more animated than the Spartans since they were not wearing any Powered Assault Armor to hide their reactions.

"WHAT?!?!?!"

Hibiki was blushing bright red the very second he understood just what the Talvernian soldier was telling him, of all the things he expected to hear about how to act around women, the idea of being intimate with them was something that shocked the hell out of him. The very second he thought of doing that with Dita, his body began to heat up while a strange ache in his pants made itself known to him, and before he could stop his imagination from getting the better of him, he began to have thoughts on two other female who he was partnered with when forming the VanDreads doing the same thing with them.

As for Bart and Duero…

"THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!!!"

The blonde's reaction was expected as he was still not used to the idea of being this close to women though he was a bit more comfortable in their presence now. As for Duero however, he was a little more open minded than Bart was.

"Really? Is that true?"

Felix nodded and replied.

"That's how we do things back on Talvern, and I can wager a bet that other worlds that have men and women on them do that too. I know that for a fact since my parents gave me the lecture about it when I was old enough and I had Sex. Ed classes when I was still in high school. It's not something to be ashamed about. To tell you guys the truth, you have no idea what you are missing, most guys I know would kill to be in your shoes right now, being stuck on a ship with a hundred and fifty women, who are very attractive by the way, as well as our fellow Talvernian comrades who are female, is a dream come true for most guys."

"THAT IS SO GROSS!!"

Bart replied but his convictions were as solid as he might have thought as he began to think of the female commander of the pirates who was Buzam and he wondered why he suddenly felt a strange sensation in his loins at that.

Felix laughed at that and replied.

"It's only gross if you don't do it right buddy, if you do it right, it can be quite pleasurable and more besides. There's also a chance you might have a baby after a certain time frame of nine months though that doesn't happen often since the process relies on a few things to work properly."

Duero was very curious about this whole thing as he spoke once more; he wanted to get as much details as he could as he had been reading a book that spoke about men and women contributing to the creation of a child, now that he was hearing this, he was keen to learn even more about this process that was known as procreation between genders.

"So is the process effective?"

Felix shook his head.

"Not exactly, unlike what you guys on Tarak have or the women have on Megele, the process of procreation is not very accurate, the woman has to be in the right time of the month to be fertile plus she has to be in the mood to do it, you have to get her excited, same with her doing the same to you, the conditions for both partners have to be favorable and there's usually a chance that even if it's done, there's no chance of having a baby right off the bat, it takes several attempts to do it."

Bart then spoke.

"If that process is so unreliable and unpredictable, then why do it in the first place?"

Felix sighed and replied.

"The whole doing the deed as some guys and even some women call it, is very pleasurable, and some do it because they love it, as well as others doing it to show their commitment and affection for one another, you must know the term love right?"

"This is quite fascinating indeed, I had a suspicion about all this since reading a book concerning the possibility of men and women being able to have children, and that has made me wonder about the physical differences between men and women, do those differences between genders have anything to do with the art of procreation between men and women?"

Felix nodded and grinned like a happy monkey at that, he could have told Duero just how the differences between men and women, but decided to wait for the time being as he wanted the men to find out for themselves, he could always help them out, plus they could talk to the female members of his group, that way they could see the act in the perspective of women.

"They do, but at the moment, I think now is not the time for you to learn about those things, besides, I need to take care of several important matters back with the others, see you guys!"

As Felix left the area, the three men looked at the Spartans. The Spartans were also thinking about other matters. They had a feeling that discovering the intimate side of being with the opposite gender was going to be a shocker to the men on Tarak. No doubt they would ask them questions as well.

Hibiki looked at the Master Chief and asked.

"Is….is this true Chief?"

"It is, that's how men and women were like back in the past and even more so in our world, and before you ask Hibiki, there is only one of us Spartans in my unit that got into a relationship, in this case, our Spartan comrade was a woman. Last I recall, she has children, though how many I wasn't really sure."

Duero was surprised at that and spoke.

"One of your fellow Spartans gave birth to children?"

Kelly spoke then.

"Yeah, why does that surprise you?"

Duero had to admit that the news that a Spartan could have a baby, he began to wonder just what kind of child would be the result of a Spartan being intimate with another person, or even, a fellow Spartan, seeing the results of the Master Chief's biological enhancements was impressive enough on their own, but the idea of a child having the same level of ability and skill as a Spartan did was something else entirely.

The idea of it all was so intriguing that he decided to ask Dr. Catherine what would be the result of it, as she was head of the Spartan II program and would know just what the results would be if two Spartans were to have children together, the resulting child could be incredible in terms of physical and mental faculties. He then turned to Hibiki and spoke.

"You know, that kind of information could be able to help us deal with reducing the expenditure on time and resources, we might need to learn even more of this, Hibiki, why don't you go to Dita's room and try out what Felix said?"

Hibiki was quick to react to the suggestion…as he face faulted.

WHAP!!!

The others looked at Hibiki who was now unconscious on the floor with a bit of a nose bleed and Kelly spoke in her usual manner.

"He took that better than I thought."

"No kidding."

Linda replied as she also looked at the now unconscious young man who was getting up and then Hibiki roared.

"Are you out of your mind?!"

"You are going to her room after all Hibiki, so no sense not learning how to do the deed with her when the opportunity presents itself. Or maybe you could try it with say Meia or Jura?"

Hibiki face faulted yet again and was really out cold this time. Fred and John looked on at the now totally unconscious young man who was still trying to get his brain back into working order after all the information his brain had just been subjected to. At the moment, Fred and John wondered just what else was going to happen for the rest of the day.

--------

In the Medical Bay…

"Wow…it's gotten so big!"

Paiway said with awe as she looked at the ultrasound images of Ezra's growing baby as Duero ran the scanner on Ezra as the gentle bridge officer lay there on the bed. Duero himself had to admit that the sight of a developing baby inside a woman's body was very interesting as well as fascinating.

"According to the estimates, the baby should be ready to detach in a few more weeks."

Ezra gently spoke at that.

"We call it giving birth Doctor."

"Oh I see."

As Duero moved aside to log the latest data into the computer, Paiway spoke to the expectant mother to be, she wanted to see the baby Ezra would have but she was worried about some things, they didn't have the needed gear and facilities.

"Hey Ezra, do you plan on delivering the baby today? We might not have the right equipment here since we left our base in a hurry….besides…"

Paiway then looked at Duero's direction and spoke.

"I doubt a man knows how to help in child birth."

Duero however took out a book he had been reading for some time, this one detailed the process that Felix spoke of to them previously though it was more of a child's hand book and never went into the finer details. He had been reading it very carefully in order for him to get a full idea of just how the process works.

"Don't worry, I have been reading on the process so I think I can handle it."

That got a pair of large sweat drops from both women, just as Catherine walked in as well as Jura, the blonde Dread pilot was in her usual dress and rubbing her head, still feeling the effects of the headache that she had since this early morning after having that dream that she shared with Dita, Meia, and Hibiki as well.

Catherine greeted Ezra and Paiway as she looked at the pregnant mother and sat down to do some work on her newly provided work console, Duero could tell that she had some things to take care of and decided to take his time in talking with her as he could see that now was not the best of times, and besides that, he had another patient to take care of, judging by the way Jura was rubbing her forehead.

Ezra then turned to speak to Jura.

"Whatever is the matter Jura?"

"Hi, sorry, but I have a really strong headache today. I really need some medicine to make this go away for the time being."

Duero was curious about that and pondered just what the news meant tot him, he took a vested interest in this case as he was aware of the Paeksis acting odd recently.

"Hmmm….Parfait mentioned that the Paeksis was undergoing some changes recently, not mention Pyoro's current state of 'health', I wonder if that is related…"

"Doctor! Please hand me the medicine right now!"

Jura said as she felt the pain of her headache hit her and she forgot her manners, she realized that and apologized to the people in the room, Catherine however was not bothered as she was now working on the computer console with great speed and Duero accepted her apology as well as Ezra and Paiway.

As Duero got the medicine, Jura admired the sight of Ezra's baby still in her mother's womb, and it was then that she spotted a book that she found to be rather interesting in images, as soon as she took the book and read the contents, her eyes widened and she looked at the image of Ezra's baby and then the book once more as an idea began to form in her head.

--------

In the Nirvana's gun firing range…

BLAM!!!

BLAM!!!

Barnette looked as she took out the next number of targets with her Glock 9 pistol and reloaded a fresh clip, she felt a lot more relaxed at the moment as she bled out the stress in the shooting range on the targets with the special padding on the walls to catch bullets. As she loaded a fresh clip, Jura was sitting there deep in thought on some important matters…namely on what she had just read from Duero's book. As soon as she was done getting it all in her head, she spoke out.

"I want to have a baby."

That had an immediate result from her companion Barnette as she missed her target completely and she turned to face the blonde with a look of utter shock.

"A BABY?!"

"Yep."

Despite the smile Jura had on her face at the moment, Barnette could tell that her blonde compatriot was downright serious about having a baby and she couldn't help but be utterly surprised by the news that had just managed to slug her hard. She managed to then get her wits together and spoke.

"Y-Y-You want me to be the fahma?!"

"Not exactly Barnette, I want to have a baby with a man."

THAT got a reaction.

"YOU WANT TO HAVE A BABY WITH A MAN?!"

Barnette was utterly shocked by that's statement as she looked at Jura who nodded and she couldn't help but wonder just what was the reason for her friend to suddenly develop this idea from out of nowhere.

Jura grinned and replied.

"Think of it Barnette, the first woman of Megele to have a baby with a man, no one on Megele has ever done that before as far as I know, I'd be famous once I have the baby when we get back to Megele, a heroine even!"

Barnette could tell that there was no way she would be winning this argument anytime soon and knew that once Jura had a plan in her head, there was no way for her to make her think otherwise, however, she was still somewhat curious just where had this idea come from.

"I know I can't tell you to not do it Jura, but at least tell me where you got this idea of having a baby with a man."

Jura showed the book and Barnette read the details and then looked at her long time friend with a very serious expression.

"All right, so who do you have in mind for the donor?"

"Well, there ARE men on this ship."

"Don't tell me it's that blonde navigator of ours."

Jura shook her head and replied.

"Nope, he's still a bit of a cry baby and he still doesn't trust us women well enough despite loosening up a bit more, why have him as a partner in that case?"

"Okay, Bart's out….how about Duero?"

"No….he's nice and certainly someone very interesting and well put together, but Parfait would not like that, I get the feeling that Parfait would not be happy if I start to show I have an interest in him."

Barnette thought it over and then knew that there were other men on the ship as well.

"How about choosing from some of the men from Talvern then? They know about the process no doubt since they lived with women all their lives, plus you can ask the women in their group for advice since they were with men all their lives."

Jura nodded.

"I thought of that, but my baby has to be very special, not just a baby in the regular sense, but someone more."

Barnette wondered about that and the green haired woman had an idea on just what Jura might have in mind. The special men would have to be Hibiki since he formed a VanDread with Jura, while the others were naturally the Spartans who were male and the one they knew the most was none other than the leader of the Nirvana Fire Teams.

"Don't tell me you're going to have a baby with the Master Chief!"

Jura had to admit that having a baby with the Spartan was a VERY tempting idea, he was nice in his own way, tough, skilled, strong, and more besides. However, as much as the idea was very tempting, she was not fully sure she would pursue it as she knew little of the Master Chief since they never got to socialize much, not to mention Cortana would not like that to say the very least and she was not in the mood to court Cortana's wrath as well.

"Actually, I thought about that, but I can bet Cortana would put her foot down on that idea, you know that the two of them happen to be very close."

"Okay, so that leaves Hibiki, the other Spartan named Fred, Chief Mendez, and the younger male Spartan IIIs."

Jura thought it over and decided to focus on Hibiki for a while see how that would go.

"I'll try Hibiki first, it would be interesting to see if I can shag him into giving me the chance to have a baby with him."

"Won't Dita object to that? You know how close she is to him after all."

"I'm aware of that Barnette, but I'm not giving up just yet, besides, I'm actually going to enjoy this. If it might not be possible, I could try the other men as well, but only if I don't do too well with Hibiki, though I can't help but think this will be worth it in a lot of ways!"

However, Jura's thoughts on the matter were cut short as the ship's alarms came online, it seemed that things were about to get interesting, Jura decided to take her time and plan out just what she was going to say to Hibiki when the time came for her to make her move on Hibiki.

--------

In the Bridge…

"What is it?'

Magno asked as the bridge crew along with Cortana who was in her holo-tank worked on locating the object that had tripped their sensors as Cortana had released the Clarion Spy Drones well ahead of the Nirvana but in a wider pattern when they picked up an odd signal, since she had no knowledge of it, she allowed the signal to get closer as she had determined that the signal didn't match any pattern used by the Harvesters. It was not long before the object came into view for all to see.

"That looks like a pod."

Ezra commented as she looked at the image, Belvedere and Amarone scanned the pod while Celtic looked at the rest of the area.

"The signal matches that of the old Colony frequency as well having lift signs, that must be an escape pod of some sort."

"From a ship or a station?"

Buzam asked as she looked at the image before her, she was the cautious one of the pirates and the idea of something this far out in the middle of nowhere was something she was very curious about.

Cortana scanned the pod and was surprised as she did so.

"The pod's outer hull shows signs of long use, I'd say this pod's been out here for at least sixty to near seventy years, But it seems to be in good working order."

Magno was surprised and decided give to order to the pirates and their Talvernian allies to go and retrieve the pod, but also to look out for possible Harvester forces in the area, there was still a chance this could be a new type of Harvester trap and they were not in the mood for a repeat of what they had done weeks before using Hibiki's idea of turning a gas giant into a star.

Besides that, they didn't have one on hand to begin with anyway.

Celtic then reported that there seemed to be no other signs of ships in the area so that meant that the pod was drifting in space at the moment, showing that this pod was special for it to be still functional over the years, whatever or whoever was inside it had be of great importance.

She also ordered the Master Chief to get the Fire teams and his fellow Spartans ready, if the Harvesters were about, there was a good chance the enemy would have Boarding Craft nearby and they had be to ready for anything that the Harvesters would be sending their way. Inside the Forward Unto Dawn section of the Nirvana, the Spartans got their weapons while the Fire Teams got into their Marine Body Armor as well as getting their weapons used for close quarters combat, however, they were surprised that Linda was not taking any close combat weaponry with the exception of a Combat Knife, she carried an SRS99D-S2 AM Sniper Rifle and a BR55 HB SR Battle Rifle.

--------

In space…

The Dreads flew in a standard defensive patter, accompanied by a number of Ai controlled Longswords courtesy of Cortana herself. As the pirates approached the pod, Hibiki went ahead under the escort of at least three Longswords with the Dreki following close behind.

As they reached the pod, Gascogne went to work in getting the pod into the shuttle with the grasping arms of her shuttle, Hibiki closed in with his Vanguard and spoke to the Head Supply officer.

"Need any help Miss Gascogne?"

Gascogne smiled, apart from John and Cortana, Hibiki was the only one who used her full name and she assured the young man that she would be able to handle things on her own. However, things were not going to get any better as out of nowhere, several squadrons of Cube Fighters came from out of nowhere and attacked the group, the arms of the Dreki were blown off and it was not long before the Nirvana pirates got into action.

Inside the cockpit of her ship, Gascogne coughed at the smoke of the control panel as well as shielding her face from the sparks, she then swore at that.

"How the heck did those guys get past the scanners?!"

The Dreads and the Longswords went to work and that allowed the Nirvana pirates to see the Cube Fighters, the new fighters looked different, a lot more cylindrical in design and appeared to be faster, and this time, they appeared to be installed with a whole new slew of operational improvements to make them a lot more effective than they were the last time. The squadrons of Cube Fighters were able to work effectively as a team, with some providing covering support while the others grabbed the pod to keep it away from the Nirvana pirates.

--------

In the Bridge…

"Well now….it seems we're not the target board for today."

Magno commented at the sight of the Harvester forces as the Cube Fighters were doing their best to keep the Dreads as well as Hibiki in his Vanguard from taking the pod. This told the elderly woman that the pod contained something or possibly someone the Harvesters did not want anyone to either find or rescue.

Buzam nodded, this situation told her that this pod was of value to the Harvesters.

"That pod must have something or someone the Harvesters don't want anyone to find Captain, they would normally target us first and get the pod afterwards considering just how much of a threat we have been to them."

"Well then, I guess the time has come for us to keep them from getting that pod, if they want that thing bad enough to ignore us, then we'll give them a reason to not ignore us."

--------

In the Nirvana…

"What the heck are those things?"

Kelly said as she looked at the view screen to see the strange fighters that were currently trading potshots with the Dread Squadrons as well as the Longswords Cortana controlled. She had never seen them before and she wanted to know just what they were.

"Those are the weirdest bunch of fighters I've seen."

Fred commented as he cradled his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle as he and the Spartans looked at the Cube Fighters. John nodded and replied.

"Those are the Harvester Armada's main assault fighter, the Cube Fighters."

"Cube Fighters?"

"It's their deployment method, the giant ship that looks like a seed opens it's mouth and then unleashes a massive Cube that break into the fighters themselves. However, those seem to be different in design, I guess the Harvesters have been upgrading themselves since the last battle."

Fred and the others listened to the information as they got back to moving out, they knew that staying there was going to be a bad idea as there was no doubt that the enemy were going to show up at some point in this mission that they were in as they knew that while there was no sign of any Boarding Craft, there was still a chance that the Harvesters would deploy a number of them to attack the Nirvana directly. And sure enough, there were as they were quickly contacted by Cortana.

"Blue Team! We have incoming contacts to the Port Side of the Nirvana!! Move in to engage, Fire Teams are in route to said location!"

The Master Chief then spoke.

"How many have you seen Cortana?"

"At least a dozen, the Boarding Craft have some sort of stealth system that rendered them harder to detect, I had to recalibrate the scanners to spot them, it looks like the Cube Fighters aren't the only things the Harvesters have upgraded Chief!"

The Spartans knew that meant that things were going to get real dicey soon as they knew that the enemy would always adapt to fight back a lot more effectively, as soon as they arrived on the scene, their thoughts became reality as they met up with the Fire Teams. The groups got ready as the Harvesters began to infiltrate the ship using the very same methods they used to get into the Nirvana the first time they were encountered by the pirates and the Spartans. It was not long before the fighting started once more as bullets flew as well as plasma bolts, lasers, and Needler rounds filled the air.

The Fire Teams were still armed with their usual UNSC weapons as well as their Covenant based plasma weaponry along with the Needlers, Beam Rifles and the Carbines and the new Megele Laser rifles and wearing their Marine Body Armor as they engaged the Harvester Shock Troopers, and this time it seemed that things were going to be different here on out.

The Harvester Shock Troopers were still the same in the form department, showing that the Harvesters were not keen on removing the alien design to frighten their foes into submission, but now they were apparently had underwent some changes, they had slightly bulkier armor and apparently some sort of ablative coating that gave them a subtle increase to their resistance to bullets as the coating would chip off with each hit. They also appeared to have a faster firing rate with their plasma weapons than before, there also appeared to be some sort of color scheme into the armor of the Harvester Shock Troopers, one group apparently had a leader who was not in the same color scheme as the other Shock Troopers as it was in a slightly silver sheen on the shoulder areas as well as the shins, as well as a glowing chevron on the chest area in the red color, showing that they now had some form of leadership in their forces.

And the most significant change was the fact that the Harvester Shock Troopers were actually thinking for themselves, in the sense that they were now using tactics instead of the usual line up and overwhelm the enemy by sheer numbers style of combat, they were a lot more agile and used cover in order to fight back a lot more effectively than they did in the past, this made them a lot more capable than before. The Nirvana Fire teams and their Talvernian Allies were quick to see that and fought back as best they could. The Fire Fight turned nasty at this point as some of the women were hit, though thankfully their Armor held on as it was treated with a stronger ablative solution.

The Harvester Shock Troopers might have undergone upgrades to better fight the Nirvana pirates and their Talvernians allies as well as the Spartan, but they were now facing a number of Spartans who were more than ready to fight back.

Fred, Kelly, and Linda might have been wearing the older and somewhat obsolete MJOLNIR Mark V with only a few upgrades from the MJOLNIR Mark VI, but that certainly didn't mean that they were at a disadvantage. Linda showed her lethality with a SRS99D-AM S2 Sniper Rifle as she took down three of the Harvester Shock Troopers down with a prices shot, and then took down three more merely a second after she dropped the first three, this got the eyes of the Nirvana pirates right off.

"Did you see that?!"

Several of the Harvester Shock Troopers charged at Linda, but were quickly intercepted by Kelly who used her speed that was beyond even Spartan standards and cut them down methodically with bursts of weapons fire from her MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle as well as quickly moving the weapon aside and jamming a pair of M6G Magnums in her hands into the faces of two of the surviving Harvester Shock Troopers and blew them to hell, she was so fast that the people who saw it were shocked completely.

"So fast…."

Fred moved in and fired several bursts of his own MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle to take out several more of the Harvester Shock Troopers, the Harvester Shock Troopers fought back and two tried to use their blades on the new Spartan as Linda and Kelly fired their weapons to pin down the Harvesters, the two were quickly greeted by the Spartan's quick knife work. Fred was known for many things, he was John's only equal as he had the same traits as the Master Chief, but one thing that did separate him was his preference for the UNSC Combat Knife. Fred was the second best Sniper and Marksman in the Spartan IIs only surpassed Linda herself as well.

Fred's Combat Knife only flashed with a slight hiss as it left the sheath, and then two flesh tearing sounds were heard as the Spartan quickly cut the heads off the Harvester Shock Troopers with little effort, Fred quickly kicked away one headless Shock Trooper away and threw his Combat Knife at another trooper, taking the attacker right in the face and he shot another in the stomach, the 7.61x51mm FMJ rounds of the Ma5C ICWS tore into the stomach of the Shock Trooper due to the concentrated burst from the Spartan II. Another second later, Fred took out a second Combat Knife and knifed another Harvester Shock Trooper right in the stomach as it tried to ambush him.

John moved in with several burst of his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle and quickly dispatched yet another band of the Harvesters with his own shots, the Spartan then quickly evaded a close combat attack from the Harvester Shock Trooper and slammed his Assault Rifle's butt into the stomach of the attacker, the blow forced it back, allowing the Spartan to fire a burst right in the face of the Harvester Shock Trooper, shredding the Harvester unit to nothing, The Spartan quickly turned as Plasma bolts hit his shields and he grabbed a Plasma Grenade strapped to his wait, he primed it and with the precision of a pro-baseball pitcher of Earth sent the ignited Plasma Grenade into the chest of the leader.

The result was explosive as the Harvester Shock Trooper leader was blown apart in a bloody mess as parts of it were sent flying all over the place.

The Nirvana Fire Teams mopped up what was left and then the Spartan IIs rallied the Nirvana Fire Teams to fight the rest of the Harvester Shock Troopers, Cortana reported that she was able to destroy a handful of the Boarding Craft but there were four more that got past her and had disgorged their forces into the ship, she would lead the Spartans and the Nirvana Fire Teams to deal with them soon enough.

--------

The Spartan IIIs were not far behind in getting kills either as one group of Harvester Shock Troopers who were moving through a wide open corridor were suddenly cut down by weapons fire as the Spartan IIIs appeared from the walls as their SPI Mark II Armor's photo reactive panels had allowed them to meld with the walls of the corridor with little worry, the Harvester Shock Troopers were cut down before they could fight back.

The SPI Mark II Armor was a lot better than the Mark I versions used by the first batch of the Spartan IIIs and therefore was not easily seen by scanners but the cooling systems were no doubt about to reach overheating, but the Spartan IIIs were ignoring that, they eliminated the surviving Harvester Shock Troopers and moved on to intercept the rest, they were then joined by Franklin Mendez as the Spartan I was dressed in Marine Body Armor and carrying a MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle, showing that he was still going to fight no matter who or what the enemy was before him.

Mendez took command of the Spartan IIIs and they quickly intercepted another band of Harvester Shock Troopers and the Spartans quickly went to work as back up arrived in time to see them cut down the boarding team of Harvester Shock Troopers to half the original number. The Nirvana Fire Teams and Blue Team quickly intercepted yet another attack force and soon the battle was pitched once more as the Spartans of Blue Team went to work.

--------

However, while the Nirvana Fire Teams and the Spartans were quickly adjusting to their enemies' new tactics and strategies, the Dread pilots, and their allies were having to push the pedal to the metal at full gear so to speak. The new tactics and strategies of the Harvester forces as well as the new designs of the Cube Fighters caught the Nirvana crew off guard.

"These guys apparently have been upgrading!"

Hibiki shouted out a bit as he swore as his attack on one Cube Fighters was evaded by said Cube Fighter and he tried his best to defend himself from the coming attack, one Cube Fighter might have evaded him, but due to his training and discipline, the young man kept his cool and struck back as he pushed his Vanguard's thrusters to full power and then took his Vanguard's swords and attacked several Cube Fighters with swings of the blades. The Cube Fighters tried to evade, but he tossed the shorter sword and turned it into a throwing weapon and killed one of the Cube Fighters in a massive explosion.

He then charged towards it and the Cube Fighter behind him attacked to finish him off, but suddenly, the Tarak youth quickly reversed the thrusters and flipped his Vanguard tin reverse and used his Vanguard's sword to strike from the bottom and cut the Cube Fighter as he jetted over it, he then turned about and cut down another Cube Fighter that came right at him.

Hibiki knew that his luck would not last long and he quickly retrieved his short sword and flew off to fight the Cube Fighters, but they were not going to make it easy for him as they darted away, Hibiki focused on chasing the ones with the Pod as he knew that the pod was the key objective of the mission. It was not easy as the Cube Fighters were working a lot better than they were the first time they had been encountered.

However, it was not long before the Nirvana's forces began to get organized and make due, the fight began to change to the side of the pirates. The Dread Fighters and the Longswords moved in unison as well as Cortana began to unleash a massive blast of weapons fire on the enemy. Cortana was quick to make the adjustments to her targeting systems and quickly began to rake in the kills for herself and loan even more support for the rest of the Dreads and Longswords.

However, the Vanguard pilot was quickly joined by Meia who managed to shoot down several of the Cube Fighters blocking her way. As soon as they were able to be close enough, their machines fused once more and out came the VanDread. The two moved in to take the pod but were surprised when the Cube Fighters increased their own speeds and took the pod away from them.

Meia was surprised by that as well as Hibiki was.

"Since when did Cube Fighters move that fast?!"

Hibiki however replied.

"Doesn't matter how fast they are, they are not perfect!"

With that, Hibiki and Meia pushed their VanDread to the limit and managed to dice through the Cube Fighters, showing that while they were faster, they didn't have the same speed as the VanDread did in attack form. The VanDread quickly got into range, but suddenly a massive lance of red light smashed into them…and then the VanDread was forced apart. Meia's Dread was sent into one direction while Hibiki's Vanguard was sent to another.

"Red Light?!"

Hibiki recalled the dream from before and tried to figure out why this was happening, but he snapped his mind back to his work a moment later, his training told him to focus on the mission as well as his comrades, he can worry about other things later. He contacted Meia immediately to check on her condition.

"Meia! You all right?!"

Meia coughed a bit as she winced in pain and surprise as her Dread's cockpit was releasing sparks, however she knew her Dread was still able to fly, she spoke then Hibiki quickly, she knew that they had to hurry and get that pod out of the area before things got really dicey.

"I'm fine! Go get the pod!"

Hibiki nodded and went after the pod and was about to reach it when the Cube Fighters came in again and took it from his reach, the Tarak youth cursed at that but just then he spotted Jura's Dread coming in towards him.

"Here I come!!!!"

The two merged and as soon as the VanDread was formed, they released the shield system and forced away the Cube Fighters, knocking them aside with a quick burst of energy and then taking the pod into the long arms of their VanDread.

The blonde then turned to Hibiki and smiled seductively as usual, making the Tarak youth a bit more nervous than before as he was suddenly getting some weird sensations all over his body and the memories of Felix's words were very much still in his head.

"So how did I do?"

Hibiki replied to the blonde's question with a slight huff, but he was still thankful she made it in time, with the shield on, they might be able to keep the Cube Fighters from getting the pod despite the slow speed of the VanDread their machines formed.

"You made it in time, though being a bit more early is just as good."

Jura then moved her chair to the direction of Hibiki who was quick to feel a little bit surprised as well as wary as the memories of how the blonde Dread pilot had acted the very day they had beat the Harvester ship over Anpathos came back to mind.

"Hey, I want to ask you something Hibiki."

The way Jura was saying it was having a very serious effect on the young man as he began to blush somewhat, that plus the way the blonde was getting up close to him allowing him to see her figure a lot more than he liked was making his body react, he could have sworn his heart beat had picked up to the point that he felt it hit his marine Body Armor through his clothes, not to mention his body began to have flashes of heat move all over it.

"W-W-What is it Jura?"

"I was wondering if you wouldn't mind having a baby with me?"

THAT got a reaction from the Tarak youth as he felt himself blush bright red, sweat like a fountain, and feel his body get hard and hot for reasons that continued to elude him. He recalled the words and he reacted to that suggestion.

"You want me to do THAT with you?!"

"Ooh….so you KNOW about it?"

It was then that an irate female voice came into the act, and that voice belonged to a certain redhead.

"HEY!!!! Mr. Alien is mine!!! He's going to do it me!!!"

That added fuel to the fire in Hibiki's mind as well as his loin as he began to have his thoughts head into Dita's direction once more.

Meia had no idea what was going on at the moment and spoke quickly to the others.

"Hibiki! Jura, hurry back to the Nirvana with the pod! We'll…."

Her words were drowned out as she spotted another pair of red beams come out of nowhere and slammed hard into the shield of the VanDread and like before, the power in the shots was enough to force both Hibiki and Jura's machines to separate, Jura's Dread was flung aside as she was shocked by that.

"What happened?!"

As the pain hit him in the moment from the blast Hibiki looked to see just where the pod had gone and since Jura's Dread was still there and he could hear her, he knew she was all right, he then spotted the pod and tried to reach it but was held back by several Cube Fighters. He tried to free himself but the machines were not in the mood to let things go as they held him off.

"Damn pests!"

"Hang on Mr. Alien!!!"

Hibiki turned to see Dita's Dread heading towards him and then they fused into their VanDread form, the Cube Fighters were destroyed after being swatted aside and the VanDread got the pod once more.

Hibiki sighed at that and spoke.

"Finally!"

"Hah! Take that you bad aliens!!! We're not going to let you have this pod!"

Hibiki moaned as Dita once more was moving on his lap and cheering, the moan was from the battle itself as well as the way Dita was moving on his lap, as despite wearing his Marine Body Armor at the moment when he was in his Vanguard, he could feel her body touching a part of him and that made him even more aware.

"Hey! Stop moving Dita!"

Dita turned and then spoke.

"Hey Mr. Alien, I want you to do it with me instead of Jura all right?"

Before Hibiki could retort, Meia called in.

"Dita! Hibiki! Now is not the time to be distracted, we have to get the pod out of here, move back to the Nirvana ASAP!"

"Right!"

But just as they were about to move forward, the VanDread was hit be another pair of the same red beams from the same source. Hibiki and Dita shouted out in pain as those beams hit the arm and then to their shock they saw the arm that was hit being covered in red and seemed to go stiff and useless despite their attempts to make it move.

Hibiki then focused on just where those red beams came from and sure enough he spotted it as the Cube Fighters moved aside as something monstrous came before them.

--------

In the Bridge…

The Bridge crew gasped at the sight before them as they looked at the latest monstrosity of the Harvesters. The thing resembled a massive manta ray with red glowing eyes and a large maw that looked not too friendly and the way it scanned the Nirvana was far from pretty. Magno gave the machine a serious look while Buzam spoke out.

"What is that thing?!"

Cortana scanned the machine and spoke to the bridge crew.

"Those beams that thing is firing must be the reason why the VanDreads are being separated."

Magno nodded at that and spoke.

"Take that thing down Cortana!"

"Got it!"

--------

Cortana ordered the Longswords to engage the new target and the fighters were on their way, some were intercepted by the Cube Fighters and they fought one another in yet another space borne dog fight, the others broke through and attacked the manta like creature, but it was able to use it's tentacle arms to swat some of the Longswords aside, destroying the fighters, this allowed Hibiki to try and fire the VanDread's other cannon, but to no avail as the red energy disabled the VanDread's weapons. The machine then caught them in two long tentacles and they were now trapped.

"Damn…that beam's disabled the weapons!"

Hibiki tried his best to get the VanDread working while Dita was in a panic.

"This is not good Mr. Alien!!!"

The disabling of the VanDread then allowed the manta like creature to fire a barrage of beams at the Nirvana, bypassing the shields easily as if they were not there.

--------

In the Navigation Well…

Bart shouted in pain and spoke in confusion and anger.

"Will someone explain to me why the shields aren't holding?!"

--------

In the Bridge

Cortana also was in pain at the moment, The Bridge crew watched in shock as Cortana in her AI form fell to her knees as she wrapped her hands on her body. She groaned in pain and looked at the ship before her and glared.

"I am going to make you pay for that!!!"

She however knew that with Hibiki and Dita in the firing line, there was no way she could use the weapons on the Nirvana which were under her command, plus the energy beams were also gumming up her targeting array, however she was not out of the fight yet as she fought off the pain.

--------

Catherine and Parfait looked at the Paeksis as it showed spots of red energy on it, they began to scan for a way to counter act the beams after what Pyoro told them when it appeared to be affected by the red beams' energy signature as well. The UNSC scientist ran up a wave form of the red beam and that of the Paeksis and saw that they matched each other but were of the negative spectrum.

"That red beam's using a power signature similar to the Paeksis, but in a totally negative wave length, that must be how it's able to harm the VanDreads and the Barrier shields of the Nirvana."

"Is there any way we can counter it?"

Parfait asked Catherine as the UNSC scientist continued to locate a possible solution and then she found one. Catherine then spoke to Parfait.

"We need to make a special energy shield around the Nirvana using the Paeksis in order to make the barrier resistant to it. But we can't do that now in this condition, I need to find out just what that thing uses for it's weaponry."

Parfait and the others did what they could as Catherine set to work on using her current understanding of the Paeksis to flood the Nirvana's power systems with small bursts of energy to try and counter act the damage as best she could at the moment, Catherine was still getting used to the idea of this crystal being this powerful but she was not going to give up just yet.

--------

In the Nirvana…

"MOVE!!!"

John ordered his team to move out as well as the Nirvana Fire Teams as well as the Spartan IIIs to move out and seal off the damaged areas and get the wounded out of the area, they had already destroyed the Harvester Shock Troopers and were evacuating the wounded for their forces as well as those of the crew when the beams hit, the ship was still there, but the damage was showing also.

As he listened to the battle outside through the COM of his MJOLNIR Mark VI, the Master Chief hoped Hibiki could fight his way out of this.

--------

"Come on….we have to beat this thing….Hibiki, do what you can."

Buzam spoke seriously as she watched the battle unfold before her as Dreads and Longswords were fighting as best they could at the onslaught of Harvester attacks on them. Magno like wise hoped that the young man in the VanDread and the three ladies who were her daughters could pull out yet another miracle.

(You all can do it….we've come too far and done too much to let it end like this!)

--------

Out in space…

Hibiki groaned as he tried to get the VanDread working again as the giant manta like creature came to them, he looked as the thing wrapped it's massive tentacles around the VanDread he and Dita formed, the young man thought of the dream and glared at the machine as it revealed a massive maw of teeth.

He recalled what he promised himself that morning, that he was not going to let this dream frighten him, he knew now just what the dream meant and what would happen if he failed, he was not going to fail!!!

Too many people have suffered because of those bastards back on Earth and the people of the Nirvana needed him now, he was not going to let some nightmare tell him to lie down and die!!!

"Dreams happen when I am asleep…"

Dita looked at Hibiki as he glared at their foe, she could tell that Hibiki was getting even more serious than before as she looked at the Harvester monster before them.

"But I am awake, and I have nothing to fear from dreams or nightmares, I am not afraid of you, I will never stop fighting you and your masters no matter what, you have done too much to others to make me just roll over and die!"

The reaction Hibiki's will suddenly had the desired effect as the red from the arm of the VanDread was pushed away and also the weapons came back online.

--------

The effect was the same as the red spots in the Paeksis on the Nirvana vanished and then the shields were able to repel the attacks, much to the awe and delight of the Nirvana crew and their Talvernian allies. Magno was happy at the sight and so was Buzam, Cortana and the rest of the crew while the Dread pilots looked on with awe and happiness.

--------

The VanDread then ripped off the tentacles that held it and was now free to launch a counter attack on the manta ship.

Hibiki spoke with confidence and then guided the cannon right into the mouth of the manta like creature, making it halt it's advance.

"You want to try and eat me you monstrous freak of a machine?! Try this first!!!! I WILL NOT SURRENDER!!!!"

Hibiki pumped in all the power the VanDread had and fired a massive blast into the machine. The manta ship moved open it's maw as if screaming in pain, that didn't last very long as the body of the ship bulged to try and contain the massive energy that was coming into it's inner workings, but that was not going to work as it finally reached the breaking point and a massive beam was unleashed through the back and it exploded into massive chunks.

This also had the effect of halting the Cube Fighters, showing that the manta ship was a command unit to lead the assault, with their command unit halted and destroyed, the Cube Fighters were now unable to fight back, allowing the Dreads and Longswords to finish them off as well as Cortana, in minutes the fight was won by the pirates.

"That was so cool! We did it Mr. Alien!!!"

Dita cheered as she looked at the now destroyed husk of the manta ship sent by the Harvesters to defeat them. With that in mind, the VanDread took the still unharmed pod and flew back to the Nirvana in victory.

Meia sighed as she followed.

"Not bad at Hibiki, Not bad at all."

Gascogne smiled as her supply shuttle flew in as well under a protective escort of Dreads and Longswords.

Jura then spoke to the Tarak teen.

"Not bad Hibiki, you did great there and that makes me want to ask you again, would you like to do it with me to help me have a baby?"

Hibiki blushed bright red at that and Dita shouted right back at Jura.

"No way, Mr. Alien is not going to have a baby with you!"

"And why is that Dita?"

"Because I want to have Mr. Alien do it with me!!!"

"No he isn't Dita!"

"Yes he is!!!"

Hibiki had no idea how to deal with the fact that two women were actually fighting over him, this was totally unheard of in Tarak and no doubt in Megele either, but his imagination began to get wild with him as he looked at Jura and Dita were still trading words, he couldn't handle the images being flown into his mind at the moment and spoke out loudly.

"Will the both of you stop that!!!"

--------

In the Hanger Bay…

"Hmmm….judging by the outer energy plating, I'd say this life pod was designed to handle a host temperatures as well as have a build in solar recharger, the charger gathered spare solar energy from the stars to serve as a power source just in case the main fusion cell gave out."

Catherine replied as she, Parfait, Cortana, as well as Duero were busy trying to crack the pod open to see just what or who was in that the Harvesters appeared to be very keen on capturing during the battle. All around them were members of the Dread Squadrons including Dita, Meia as well as Jura and Barnette, other crew members, several of the Nirvana Fire Teams and security detail and a handful of the Talvernians.

Along with the rest of the crew that were already there to begin with were the team of Spartans including the Spartan IIIs. John had no idea what or rather who was on this pod, but considering just how fiercely the Harvesters tried to keep them from getting it, it must have been a very important person.

It was not long before the group of tech specialists had finally opened the pod, there was a great hiss of released air. The sight of what was inside the pod was enough to get the attention of just about everyo0ne in the hanger.

"It's a girl!"

True enough, the person inside the pod appeared to be young woman, having a pair of triangular earrings as well as wearing some sort of jump suit that was white and yellow at the same time in a very unique pattern, she had deep blue hair in a ponytail and was somewhat cute as was commented by a number of the Talvernian men who were nearby to take a good look and the new arrival.

"Kind of cute."

"Yeah, makes me wonder what she's doing here of all things."

The women of Megele were confused by that for a minute or two as while they had gotten used to being around the men of Talvern, they were still a bit in the dark about male and female relationships, unaware of the fact that the Talvernians had been caught by their commanding officers talking about the finer points of being with men and women and were under watch at the moment.

Dita then spoke.

"Is she an alien?"

Parfait shook her head as both Catherine as well as Duero ran the check on the stranger's vitals.

"No, she appears to be human."

Catherine ran the scanner over the young woman and spoke as she looked at the readouts.

"Her vital signs look about normal, no sign of Freezer Burn, and it seems her body is already recovering nicely."

Duero nodded as he looked at the monitor and took out his stethoscope and placed in on the woman's chest to be sure about the young woman's vital signs, it was not that he doubted Dr. Catherine's diagnosis, but he was the kind to be very thorough as well as making sure that everything was set as he wanted to make sure that accidents and risks were toned down and minimized as much as possible.

"Her heart rate's picking up, no doubt due to the fact that her pod must have administered some sort of solution into her body when we opened the pod."

The people watched as the girl woke up; she opened her eyes and actually had red eyes, much to the surprise of the people there, as it was the first time they had seen such eyes not to mention the fact that the color appeared to be entirely natural and was not done through the use of colored contacts of any sort.

It was then that Hibiki made his way towards the pod to see just what or rather who the harvesters were going out of their way to capture, however, his rush made him trip on the foot of a person nearby and he fell forward, right past Catherine, Parfait, and Duero and nearly landed into the pod itself.

"Thank you my Prince!!!"

The sight of the new female smiling as well as hugging Hibiki made quite the impression on several of the women who were close.

Jura was utterly surprised by this.

"What the heck?!"

Barnette was surprised.

"She's hugging him!!!!"

The Talvernian men and women were laughing their butts off at the moment, as Felix couldn't help but hold his sides in laughter. This day was going to get very interesting from here on out in their minds.

But there was one person who REALLY reacted at the sight of Hibiki being hugged by the new arrival, and that person in question was a certain redhead.

"NOOO!!!!! MR. ALIEN SHOULD UNITE WITH DITA!!!!!"

Paiway was scribbling away like mad while the Spartans looked on, as John couldn't help but shake his head a bit…he had a feeling things between Hibiki and Dita were about to get rather strained with this new arrival into the crew not to mention the other matters ahead of them. He however wondered just what the Harvesters were going to do, now that the secret was out that his fellow Spartan IIs were on the team as well as the new Spartan IIIs.

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The Spartan was right, for the Harvester Council were once more in an uproar at the latest defeat of their forces. They were not going to give up until the Nirvana was dealt with, however, they now were very interested in the news that they were now dealing with several more Spartans, while this was unexpected, it could also be useful, if they could capture these Spartans, then they would be worth the price any loss.

For those warriors could be the key to their survival.

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To be continued…

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Author's Notes:

Sorry for the long delays but it could not be helped, I had a LOT of things to take care of so it has been a while since I updated.

Well…..this might not be very long but since I had my attention elsewhere for the duration of the month, I was not able to make this chapter complete and for that I apologize to all my readers, but be assured that VanDread Halo The Second Stage has not been forgotten.

Now a reader of mine sent me a message asking me not to make this story into a Harem style animation, and that has given me extra food for thought, the reason being that since we are expanding the story board into something a lot more complex than the original VanDread I might or I might not go with the same design as one of my other stories, ZoidDread.

One of the hard reasons is the fact that VanDread IS a Harem style anime to begin with so the ZoidDread idea was not easy to do in the first place, and the hard part is that if I am going to make VanDread Halo a non harem style story in the Second Stage is looking for the right partners to fill in the gaps in terms of relationships, Hibiki and Dita are fairly settled in, and there is no doubt about John and Cortana, but what about Meia, and Jura?

Also, is there a chance that Barnette might get her chance as well?

Anyway, we'll see how this develops and maybe we can see some VERY interesting results.

**************

For those of you who are either new to the Halo Universe or have not been able to get all the information on the Halo Universe, here's the lowdown on some things you might have missed.

The Spartan I Program codenamed Project ORION was the first Spartan Program initiated by the UNSC for Special Warfare Task Groups in the year 2491 to 2508. The program was started to create advanced warfare squadrons tasked to battle the Insurrection in the Outer Colonies and sometimes Inner Colonies as well. These squads were used in most operations deemed simply as Black Ops, such as assassinations, counter-insurgency missions, raids and the like. They were to use HEV and Pelican Drop ships for their missions. However, the results were not effective in the goals of the Program and Project ORION was scrapped with the participating soldiers assigned to other Special Operations Units.

The ORION Program was meant to test new advances in genetic enhancements on volunteers from the Armed Forces of the UNSC. These enhancements were later perfected after the scrapping of the ORION Project to be the base enhancements undergone by the Spartan IIs in the later Spartan II Project spearheaded by Dr. Catherine E, Halsey. Those who survived the high mortality rate that led to the shutting down of the Spartan I Program were hit with mental problems. However it is known that children who were born to the number of soldiers who had participated in the Spartan I Program were named as Spartan 1.1

The Spartan 1.1s had the same genetic enhancements as their parents but lacked the overall military training that their parents had.

Two famous Spartan Is were Avery J, Johnson and Nolan Bryne, both had the first contact with the Covenant in the area of the UNSC colony world of Harvest and in the following Battle of Harvest, with Avery rising to the rank of Sergeant Major as well as being the last human to die in the end of the UNSC-Covenant War, while Nolan's fate is unknown. There were other Spartan Is, and one of them were known to be SCPO Franklin Mendez who later trained the Spartan IIs.

The Spartan III Program was the creation of Colonel James Ackerson of the Office of Naval Intelligence or ONI of the UNSC Section III. The Program was created as the successor and replacement of the widely successful Spartan II Program headed by Dr. Catherine Halsey. The soldiers trained in this program were made to cheaper to train, equip, and field in larger numbers with them being chosen from a wider selection. They would rely on superior battle tactics, training, stealth, and team work rather than technology and equipment to see them through, unlike the Spartan IIs.

Colonel Ackerson stated that while the Spartan II Program was a dazzling success in the field it was too restrictive in numbers since there were too few Spartan IIs to make a difference on the many fronts of the UNSC-Covenant War due to the strict genetic requirements placed by Dr. Catherine in the creation of the Program, while this was true, there were other issues surrounding Ackerson's actions. The negative effects of the Spartan II Program in the eyes of ONI overshadowed the successes, the first was the high mortality rate of the children in the program which limited their numbers further, going against the drive, purpose, and ambition of the Program. The next was the funding of the Spartan II group plus their MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor was enough to fund a UNSC Battle Group as was stated by ONI Captain Rich, though he too had other reasons to dislike the Spartan II Program and Catherine Halsey as much as Ackerson did. The third was that they were too few to turn the tide of the war, and lastly, they were exposed to the public to boost morale in both the military and the citizenry of the UNSC and for an organization such as ONI anything that revealed their operations was a mistake in their book.

With the approval of the Program, the Spartan IIIs were born, they were meant to be cheaper, more plentiful, and expendable, they were made to form companies that were numbering at least 300 to 330 at a time and were sent on suicide missions that even the elite UNSC Orbital Drop Shock Troopers would not be able to accomplish. The casualty rates for the Spartan IIIs were very high to the point that 100 percent losses were the result. For ONI, those missions despite the loss of an entire Spartan III Company were successes, they were trading lives for time against a much deadlier foe such as the Covenant. ONI hoped that despite the high death rate, there would be enough Spartan IIIs would survive to train more and more Spartans allowing the Spartan IIs be in the numbers up to a hundred thousand compared to the Thirty Spartan IIs.

The Spartan IIIs were able to survive their own augmentations due to the advances in genetic enhancements in the rate of a 100% compared to the 44% survival rate of the Spartan IIs. After the utter annihilation of Alpha and Beta Company on their missions with only Tom and Lucy being the survivors of Beta Company, Kurt-051 who was given the name of Kurt Ambrose, acting head of the Spartan III Program ordered the use of illegal drugs to the members of Gamma Company to at least give them a chance to survive the odds stacked against them .

While the Spartan IIIs were indeed cheaper to field, equip, and were better trained than the Spartan IIs, they were not as lucky in the sense of overall abilities. Their SPI Armor did give them a stealth edge over the MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor as well as being cheaper to create, mass produce, require less physical traits to use in combat, as well as transport. But it was far from able to match the power of the MJOLNIR, plus it didn't give the Spartan IIIs the needed protection and enhanced physical abilities that the Spartan IIs were able to have. The armor was also not up to speed and could not take the pounding the MJOLNIR was known to take as well as lacking the essential Energy Shields of the MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor, namely the Mark V and Mark VI series of the MJOLNIR.

They also were not genetically gifted as the Spartan IIs were as the Spartan IIs were meticulously selected for their superior genetic qualities while the Spartan IIIs comprised entirely of war orphans seeking revenge on the Covenant for glassing their worlds and killing their families and friends. Without the needed genetic traits, they were not able to easily match the overall power of the Spartan IIs who were able to pull off many victories despite their low numbers in combat.


	3. Chapter 3

VanDread Halo The Second Stage

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to VanDread or Halo so let's just leave it at that.

Chapter 2

Testing Grounds

( ): Thoughts

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On a nearby planet…

Parfait looked at the scanners and began to check over the data as she looked on the nearby portable computer system that she had with her. As the data streamed in quickly she looked at the field before her. The field was placed with a huge slew of obstacles, both natural ones as well as manmade. Along with her was her staff of engineers who were available for this mission, along with Dr. Catherine, the Master Chief himself, along with his fellow Spartan IIs and Senior Chief Petty Officer Franklin Mendez. The Nirvana Fire teams were there as well to oversee the production testing of her Power Armors.

They had arrived on a nearby world that had similarities to Earth and quite by accident as well. The world was ideal for colonization though it appeared that this world was not inhabited by anyone and all of the natural resources appeared to be relatively intact on the surface and this had several environments that could serve as test grounds for the operational effectiveness of the Power Armor systems that the plucky head engineer developed months before.

The Power Armors were currently on the ground and had been installed with a number of sensors to scan the suit's internal and external systems for this test run. The sensors were also able to take hits and mock damage readings from the weapons that were brought in for the testing. These included a large number of UNSC weapons, the Covenant based weapons, the modified Megele Laser Rifles, and Megele Laser Rings, as well as Tarak weaponry and a number of salvaged Harvester Shock Trooper weapons that were reverse engineered to be used in the experiments. They needed to not only test the suits in combat conditions, but to see their effectiveness in the various environments that the Nirvana Fire Teams would find themselves in if ever they were once more on the planet.

The weapons of the UNSC and those of Tarak were currently armed with standard ammunition in which the suits would be tested in their shield systems as well as their armor plating, it would be expensive, but it would gauge the resistance of the Power Armor to basic solid rounds, the Megele weapons and the reverse engineered Harvester Plasma weapons as well as those of the Covenant would be used to test the Armor's resistance to energy based attacks.

Since the Megele Laser Rifles undergone modifications, they were a lot more effective than they were before and had to undergo not just internal modifications but external ones as well. The Laser Rifles might have been elegant looking but they were too delicate to be used in the kinds of fights the Fire Teams would routinely find themselves in. The casings were made to be tougher and harder, as well as lighter to allow the women to move about, the Laser Rifles were also like staves and had to be changed to match the needs of the battle field. This included a shorter profile as well as modifications to other parts of the weapons, namely the charging systems, storage batteries, the energy cycling chamber and the crystal arrays. The end result was the Megele Laser Rifle trading it's staff like appearance to a more traditional rifle design. The components were also shielded from dirt, mud, rain, dust, sand, and snow to fit the needs of the Nirvana Fire Teams. The Fire Teams quickly learned through their training that the original Laser Rifles might look elegant, but the delicate nature of the design made it impractical in the battle field, plus maintenance was too risky and difficult, plus when dealing with their training in close combat, the staff design was not effective in moving quickly as they would have to hold the weapons horizontally or vertically, they would further limit the effectiveness of the weapons.

Parfait also borrowed design concepts from the Talvernians who used lasers as their basic weapons and through this, she was able to scale down the rifles even more to help make them easier to move around with.

The Megele Laser Rifle now resembled a cross between the MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle with the barrel of the BR55 HB SR Battle Rifle, the slimmer and more compact profile made it easier to carry and use in a moment's notice and the battery packs could be replaced in the same way as the ammunition clips of the said weapons could be replaced. The design proved to be very effective and would soon be tested in this world as well and would soon find their way to the arsenals of the Nirvana Fire Teams.

The group on the surface of the world was currently using one of the Albatross Drop ships as a command center as well as an Elephant for more mobile use though mobile was not a very effective term for the slow moving machine. They needed the Elephant however due to the multi environment nature of it's design and it's hardiness to serve in a capacity where moving the Albatross was not feasible or advisable.

Parfait then spoke to the Master Chief.

"Chief, the suits are powered up and ready for testing."

"Good."

He nodded to the volunteers to get ready as the women were dressed in basic UNSC issued clothing instead of their usual Megele clothes. One of the members of Fire Team Alpha, a young brunette named Lisa Delann took to the center stage, she went to the nearby changing cubicle and placed on a small form fitting body suit with special kinetic body armor. Parfait had developed the inner suit to act as a safety system to protect the wearers from internal injuries such as heat, cold, toxins and shrapnel. It was not perfect, but it would help a good deal in preventing higher injuries while the testing was going on, it also came complete with a special interface system that allowed Parfait to monitor the vital signs of the user as well with the help of Dr. Catherine Halsey who would be nearby for medical support.

Lisa was done with the changing and then she moved to the first test suit and she then was helped by her comrades and began to enter the suit and as soon as it was done, she began to power up the systems by activating the computer systems, but immediately spotted a spike in the scanner system, she used the AI system to track down the source and found that the energy spikes were coming from the power regulation system and she called it in immediately.

"Parfait, there seems to be some odd fluctuations in the power system that's messing with the suit's sensors."

"All right, power the suit down for a minute."

Lisa did so and Parfait went to work on the suit using the scanners she had placed in before to track down the flaw to the power system, Catherine also looked over the situation and gave her own thoughts on the matter to help with the improvements and upgrades needed by the suits. At the moment, there were ten suits ready for testing and the others suits would then be upgraded to take into account the data gathered from the results of the tests of the ten suits. So far the Power Armors were in their simple metallic silver color as well as gun metal grey. Someone in the manufacturing suggested that they should color the suits in order to make them more feminine as drab silver and grey were so unattractive.

Amazingly however, the ones who shot down that idea were the Nirvana Fire Teams themselves, while they wanted the suits to look more attractive, they knew that doing so was an open invitation to being shot at by the enemy, looking good in the battle field was a death warrant as the enemy would spot you and hit you first. They were not going to lose the element of surprise and they insisted that the Powered Armor would be colored to match the battle field that they were no doubt going to be in at some point.

As they located the power source problems, Lisa was joined by another Fire Team member from Fire Team Charlie named Hana who wore the same clothes as well as wearing the same inner body suit and she too was helped into another one of the suits which had been fixed with the power problem and she began to run the suit, reporting that hers was working fine as the power systems were working a lot better thanks to the upgrades made by the engineers. Lisa was quickly able to join into it all and get her own suit back on track.

It had been several days since their latest flirt with disaster with the Harvesters, they had barely gotten away from the sight of the battle to lick their wounds when they were once more hip deep in trouble. They had salvaged what they could from the remains of the new Harvester Shock Troopers as well as the Cube Fighters and even that massive manta ray like creature that they had defeated before in order to find out just what the Harvesters had been up to ever since the destruction of the battleship that they fought with using Hibiki's near insane plan to turn a gas giant into a star.

The situation started out with their meeting with the young woman that they had rescued before, they brought her to the Medical Bay for a better analysis and found that her name was Misty Cornwell and she was biologically 14 years old. Paiway pointed out that while she was 14 she had spent 63 years in cryogenic suspension so she was actually 77 years of age in her usual tone with her puppet. Duero was amused at that while Catherine chuckled a bit. As soon as Misty woke up, out came the same blob like hologram from her earrings and she looked about to see herself surrounded by the Nirvana crew.

She then spoke to the blob that spoke to her in beeps and chirps that she was all right, showing that the blob entity she called Q-chan had asked her if she was all right. She shivered somewhat and Duero gave her a blanket to fight off some of the effects of her long hibernation while Catherine told her that while she suffered no signs of freezer burn due to her well made jump suit, now was not the time to move around.

The second she saw Duero, she commented on how handsome he was, surprising Duero as he was considered average looking back on his home world, not to mention that it was the first time a woman had ever commented on his looks. The young woman was then spoke to by Bart and asked if she did live on a world where men and women lived together and she called him an idiot for asking her that kind of question, earning a bit of humor from Hibiki as well as Catherine. Misty then directed her attention to the young Tarak youth, and after learning his name, begins to attraction and affections towards the young man, unsettling Hibiki somewhat as well as making Dita rather unhappy with the situation.

Needless to say, Misty was quick to show that she was interested in the young man, making Dita even more annoyed as Misty mentioned the old Japanese legend of the Red String of Fate, Misty and Dita were soon to be rivals after Hibiki at this point, though the Master Chief swore that even Jura was giving the young blue haired female slightly hostile looks. After hearing the truth from Catherine and told where she was Misty decided to back and get some much needed rest.

Dita naturally spoke to Cortana and Ezra about the situation while Hibiki was still trying to figure out just what the heck was going on. He had even asked John what to do but the Spartan merely replied that it usually happens. The Spartan knew that for a fact, some female UNSC Marines would sometimes make a pass at him as well despite his intimidating size and appearance, and when he was lost in thought and looking ahead, and in the direction of some female Marines they would comment on that, some were playful while he recalled one saying that he should pray that Cortana was not the jealous type.

In most regards, the Spartan explained that such things were considered normal for young man his age and he had to be able to adapt and handle it. Kelly, who was a bit more skilled with words than John was said that Hibiki should be lucky, most guys back in their dimension would gladly switch places with him right there and then, further confusing the young man. Dita meanwhile commented to Ezra about how unfair it was for Misty to be so familiar with Hibiki when they had only just met, Ezra tried to console her friend and told Dita that misty in a ship where she next to no one and no doubt is getting used to the idea of being in a ship where the vast majority of the crew were female, plus it would make sense that since might be from another world than Megele she would see men differently. Dita however was still not happy with the situation.

Misty had been placed back into sleep and was currently keeping out of trouble as she still needed to recover from the effects of waking up from cryogenic suspension.

However it was not long before Dita's attention goes to Ezra as the young mother to be cries out n pain and holding her stomach showing that the baby was about to come out. Dita hurriedly helps Ezra to the Medical Bay for the delivery and manages to draft Hibiki into helping her with Ezra. Hibiki was recently in the Register trying to make sense of the whole situation before he left to have a chat once more with the Master Chief or with Felix until he ran into Dita and Ezra, he saw immediately the pain the young mother was in and rushed to help, not waiting for Dita to call his attention.

They were on their way down to the Medical Bay when out of nowhere; the power in the whole ship suddenly went down. It was then that they were told by Duero who managed to contact them that the ship had been infected by some type of virus that had crippled the entire ship with the exception of emergency power as well as life support and short range communications as was reported by Parfait.

It turned out that Buzam and the others had found a message pod in Misty's stasis pod and had attempted to decrypt it, but it apparently had some form of failsafe device that immediately began to upload a virus right into the networks and it was a very fierce one, powerful enough to disable even the AI form Cortana was in, trapping the woman in her holo-tank in the bridge and rendering her unable to help in any fashion though she was able to communicate and said that she was all right. However it was then that the bridge crew managed to get some data from their long range scanners that faint traces of Harvesters were detected in the area.

It was not long before the Harvesters did show up, just as Hibiki and Dita were told that they would have to help deliver Ezra's baby right there and now in the very elevator they were in. Naturally Hibiki was far from happy with the idea and was not much help at the moment, so it was down to Dita to help her friend, not that it was a mistake, Hibiki, having grown up in an all male society had no prior experience on the matters of child birth and was not trained for such things.

The Nirvana Security Teams realized that they were going to have their work cut out for them as they would have to rely on themselves as well as the Nirvana Fire teams, the Spartans and the Talvernian soldiers to deal with the Harvester Shock Troopers who were no doubt going to show up and attack them while they were in this state. Magno and Buzam also knew that the only force they had on hand were going to be the Dreads and the Vanguards, thankfully the Talvernians who had been training on how to use the upgraded Vanguards in space were more than willing and ready to take the fight to the Harvesters and buy time for the Dreads to take to the sky, it was risky, but the Talvernians had been routinely training in the Vanguard simulators for both space borne and ground operations. With Hibiki out of action due to being trapped in the elevator during this situation, it fell to the Talvernian Vanguard pilots to hold the line. This was easier as unlike the Dreads who relied on the Launching Catapult to fire them out into space, the Vanguards merely leaped out and were now in action.

The Vanguards had gotten a larger number of upgrades in both offense and defense so they were better off at this point but the pilots knew that unless they had support from the Dreads, things were going to go from uncertain to worse for them all. Not to mention they had limited ammunition to begin with and without support from the Dreki to refuel and rearm, combat was not going to be easy so they would have to rely on close combat when their regular ranged weapons ran dry.

The situation was made even worse as with Hibiki no longer able to pilot the Vanguard that was transformed by the Paeksis all those months before, the use of the VanDreads was out of the question, and with Cortana out of the way to provide fire support, things were not going to be easy, and with the Nirvana's shields offline as well as all other functions they were dead in space.

The Spartans were quick to respond to the possible boarding attack, but with power down to most of the Nirvana, they would have to rely on natural brute strength to open the doors to reach the areas that could be attacked and that meant that they would have to use their heavy strength to open the doors. The women had to admit that seeing the Spartan IIs rip door open with terrifying ease made them uncomfortable, even the Nirvana Fire teams who had already gotten used to being around the Master Chief were in awe at how easily he and his fellow Spartan IIs could tear doors open.

The Harvesters came right at them with several squadrons of Cube Fighters as well as several Boarding Craft that with Cortana unable to support the newly released Vanguards as well several of the Boarding Craft were able to latch on the Nirvana and the Talvernians had to do their best to report to the crew on what was happening. Parfait managed to do what she could in order to help locate the attackers using the still functional sensors on the Nirvana but it was not going to be easy.

The battles in the Nirvana's corridors were very fierce as the Security Teams with their upgraded Megele Laser Rifles did what they possibly could in order to hold the line with the Nirvana Fire Teams, the Spartans, and the Talvernians remaining behind. The Spartans were doing an excellent job in all accounts and so were the Nirvana pirates and their Talvernian allies, but it was far from easy. With Cortana down and with already existing sensors down, the Nirvana defense forces had to rely on their own communication systems to help coordinate their efforts, The Fire Teams were able to rely on their UNSC Communications gear well enough to handle the situation and the women of the Nirvana and their allies were able to hold their own.

However it was far from pretty or tolerable, the injuries suffered by the defenders were considerable and a good number of the women were gravely injured though not fatally at this point and time, the problem was that since the Medical Bay was out of power and they could ill afford to leave the battle since if they retreated, then the Harvesters would have free reign into the Nirvana and cause considerable damage to the ship. The women had no choice but to toughen it out as the smell of gun powder, burned ozone, melting metal, burned cloth, and the undeniably sickening smell of burned skin and flesh was in the air. They could only do their best to patch the injuries with the Medical Kits they carried to treat injuries, Biofoam hurt like hell, but it kept them alive for as long as they needed to keep fighting. The medics in the team and from the Talvernians did their absolute best to keep their fellow soldiers from losing themselves to the pain and keep them in the fight.

As soon as they were able to eliminate the Harvester Shock Troopers in one section of the Nirvana they had to hurry as there was still an attack going on in the other sections of the Nirvana. The Security Teams on the scene did their best with the modified Laser rifles and while they were not very happy with the changes done to the rifles, that particular change was no longer an issue as the weapons performed as they were needed to perform in combat. The Security teams did their best but they too were in dire straits as some of them had been injured and it was with the arrival of the Nirvana Fire Teams, The Spartans, and their Talvernian allies. The wounded were patched up as best as can be, but with the Medical bay down and out, there was no way for them to get the needed medical attention until the virus had been dealt with.

The Security Teams were able to hold their own but it was no doubt that sooner or later, they were going to need some better armor, their outfits might have been comfortable, fashionable, and easy to clean, but it was nowhere near effective protecting them from the weapons fire of the Harvester Shock Troopers while the Marine Body Armor of the Nirvana Fire Teams were more than enough to handle itself in the heat of combat before them all. The fighting was getting even fiercer by the second and it was not going to be long before the Harvester Shock Troopers would be pushed back. The Spartans were getting a large number of kills as Blue Team were beating the crap out of the Harvesters one by one. Kelly and Fred blasted away with their weapons with Fred cutting down any attackers with his Combat Knife if they came too close to either him or Linda while Kelly and John blasted away with deadly accuracy and precision with their own weapons with John wielding his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle and Kelly using a Br55 HB SR Battle Rifle.

Hibiki was far from idle as he managed to get himself out of the shock he had found himself in and listen to the words being said to him by Magno as well as Catherine, despite not being a registered expert in child birth, Catherine genius intellect and her vast medical expertise came to the fore to work with Magno, Magno, being already a hundred years old was very much versed in the art of child birth and knew that since Hibiki had explained the pain, that Ezra was about to give birth there and now and thus both Hibiki and Dita would have to do what they could to help Ezra deliver the baby.

Duero was far from happy as this was not an ideal situation, but both Magno and Catherine knew full well that there was no way around it, if Ezra was already in labor, then there was nothing for it as there was no way to stop the baby from being born right now.

Hibiki had no idea how to do this but knew that now was not the time to lose one's cool, and focus on the matter. He was not going to let this fear of the unknown stop him and he certainly was not going to let anything happen to Ezra and Dita as well as Ezra's daughter, he had a job to do and that was to ensure the safety of the people with him. The Master Chief had taught him much and he had learned a lot from the Spartan plus his time with Chief Mendez.

The battles outside of the Nirvana were also getting very fierce as the Talvernian pilots did all that they could manage with the Harvesters, they held their own, but the lack of actual space borne Vanguard combat experience worked against them. And they desperately needed the support of the Dreads in order to match up with the still growing number of Cube Fighters as the two Seed Ships began to send out even more of their kind to fight with them.

However, there was already a drama unfolding in the Nirvana…

Meia had to help with the defense as the reports from a Security Team that held the fort in one section of the Nirvana told them that a large detachment of Harvester Shock Troopers were making their way to the Dread Launching Bay, if they were able to disable the Dread Launching Platform/Catapult completely, the Nirvana would be totally defenseless, not mention the Register girls who were there along with Gascogne would be sitting ducks, Gascogne had ordered the girls to use the oldest form of power generation, their muscles to help create enough power to run the Dread Launching Catapult, that meant they would have to use bike trainer machines and tread mills to create enough electrical current to power the system.

However, that left them vulnerable to the attacks of the Harvester Shock Troopers making their way to the area to disable the Launching Catapult's systems. Meia ordered the Dread pilots to hold while she would rally with the Security Teams to fight off the Harvesters, while the pilots wanted to help, they followed Meia's commands as she left, armed with her Laser Ring though she doubted that the charges in the Laser ring were going to be enough to handle the refractive armor coating that the Harvester Shock Troopers had on them.

She decided to head for a nearby UNSC Armory that was placed in the area to get some better weapons, while she preferred her Laser Ring, she knew that she would need some better weapons to stand a chance against the Harvester Shock Troopers as she had seen that it would take too many shots for her Laser Ring to harm a single Shock Trooper, as soon as she got there, she was greeted by the Spartan IIIs who were getting spare ammunition for their weapons. Apparently the Spartan IIIs had been ordered by the elder Spartans and by their commanding officer SCPO Mendez to stop the Harvester Shock Troopers from attacking the Dread Launching Platform/Catapult. Tom looked at her and then reached for a M7S Sub Machine Gun as well as a Plasma Pistol and a M6G Magnum with ammunition for both guns. The senior Spartan III knew that since Meia was the leader of the Dread pilot squadrons she was there to help secure the Platform and seeing that she was not going to be dissuaded, he gave her weapons with which to fight with.

Ash was not happy with having a civilian along since despite Meia's rank as Dread Squadron Leader, she was not a fully recognized member of the military, but time was against them and therefore he kept his peace. The group made their way to the area just as they encountered the Harvester Shock Troopers, the fire fight erupted right off the bat as both sides sought cover and the fighting was getting to be very deadly and quick. Meia observed the Spartan IIIs and could sense that the young people in the SPI Mark II Armor were going all out to end the threat before them.

She could see through their fighting methods that the Spartan IIIs were filled with anger and rage, so like her when she was still living on the streets of Megele after the incident that resulted in the death of her fahma as well as the life she led as a street hood. However, she knew that they were different from the norm. While she knew nothing of the full details, she heard that the Spartan IIIs were all war orphans from the War between the UNSC and the Covenant, she was not aware of the details but wanted to know more when she had the chance, even if there was no doubt in her mind that none of them would want to talk about their pasts.

The fight proved to be a fierce one and the Spartan IIs showed their extensive training as well as their fighting ability as the Harvester Shock Troopers were getting themselves torn apart though some of the Spartan IIs did take some hits, thankfully they were not killed as they held their own and so did Meia as she fired the weapon she had with her. The Harvester Shock Troopers were firing back and using cover, but the Spartan IIs were able to take advantage of the cover as well and used their Grenades to even things up in a fight with their foes. However the efforts proved to be a good one as the Spartans and Meia managed to defeat the Harvester Shock troopers heading towards Gascogne and the other Register girls. With that out of the way, Meia moved back to meet up with the rest of the Dread pilots just as a security team arrived with fresh weapons to hold and secure the area.

The Spartans quickly moved to where Hibiki and the others were and they quickly tore open the elevator doors to the stuck elevator, it was a great risk but Tom and ash quickly saw that the breaks that held the elevator steady as well as in position were already reaching breaking point and the attacks were not going to make it any easier. Tom, Ash, Jake, Leena, Mark. Olivia, and Lucy did their best to gently move Ezra without harming her as well as disturbing the soon to be born baby. The Spartan IIIs made it to a nearby room which they had to force open and there they gently took Ezra into a nearby couch for a more comfortable location, the took the mattresses and made a temporary bed and it was then that the Spartan IIIs got word on an incoming Harvester Shock trooper Team heading in their direction.

They quickly moved from the room and formed a barricade with the remaining furniture and the ruined metal doors and not a moment too soon as the Harvester Shock Troopers engaged them….leaving Hibiki and Dita to tend to Ezra, just as the Dreads were now being launched one by one into space to fight. The battle was fierce and brutal and more than one Talvernian had to abandon his or her Vanguard as soon as it was trashed while the Dreads knew that while they were fully loaded and fueled for combat, there was no way they could be able to handle prolonged battles without Gascogne to help them.

The Seed Ships quickly attacked the Nirvana while it was still helpless and it seemed that were going to go bad as the Dreads were slowly running out of ordnance.

It was not long for the salvation they all hoped for came into play…and it was from a baby's cry.

The cries Ezra's newborn baby gave out through the communication system of the Nirvana in the room as Hibiki and Dita helped deliver the baby acted as the password to the pod and the virus was quickly deactivated, allowing the pirates to reactivate the Nirvana. The Spartans were now in the room and looked at the new borne child along with the Tarak teen and Dita.

Cortana was relieved and quickly activated all the Nirvana's weapon systems and got ready to pay the Harvesters back for catching them all like this and soon enough the Dreads and Vanguards were quickly joined by the Longsword Squadrons under Cortana's command and the fight was now in the path of the pirates, the battle was over as the Seed Ships were wiped out and the Dreads, Vanguards and Longswords were able to mop up the rest of the enemy forces.

The Nirvana was back to operational status hours later and with the Medical bay online, the wounded were brought in and Paiway, Duero, and Catherine were busy working on the wounded along with the medics from the Nirvana Fire Teams and the Talvernians. The wounded were grateful and were finally able to get the proper medical treatment that they needed in order to heal and be ready for the next battle. With the ship back to operational status as well, repairs could be done and while Parfait and her engineering crew knew that they had quite the mess to clean up, they were more than ready to tackle the job before them.

With the message pod now unlocked and no more booby traps found in it, the Captain played the message for all the crew to see.

As the video played, they were all told the fate of Earth by a pair of scientists with the male scientist apologizing for the trap left behind but it was a built in safe guard to make sure the humanity was flourishing as it should. The scientists them told them about the true nature of the Harvesters and why the former humans of Earth had become the merciless beings they were now, it seemed that the remaining humans on Earth had tried their best to change the world left behind and clean up the damage done to the planet after the colony ships left the system, but apparently they had failed, and what was worse, genetic saturation had occurred in the human gene pool on Earth, meaning that evolution was now at a standstill for humans on earth. Some humans left earth to other colonies in order to escape that fate but those who remained tried to do what they could in the effort to save humanity.

With no viable land masses and with the environment of Earth resembling a washing machine with acid as the cleaner due to the violent storms and pollution there on the surface, the ones pristine home world of all humanity was now reduced into a mechanical and barren mockery of it's former glory in a mess of giant gears to contain it, with the Moon out of the way and influencing the tidal currents on Earth, the land masses were now nothing but ruined island with derelict cities that resembled human bones reaching out into the sky with almost hungry intent.

The scientists then stated that the remaining humans back on Earth eventually fell into madness and rage, believing themselves the last vestige of humanity, when they were unable to clone even basic copies of themselves, they justified the need for survival above all else, including the basic human morals such as compassion, mercy, kindness and more….they were concerned with survival and morals was now thrown away, they were going to harvest the organs of all the humans beyond the system as they view them now as nothing more than resources for their survival. They then used the Paeksis left on Earth which too fell under their control and was now an evil version of itself to create the harvester forces and their armadas, the scientists said that they didn't know how and why the people of Earth turned to this madness but they implored the crew to resist no matter the odds before them and do not let the future of Humanity die out.

As the message needed, Magno and Buzam nodded and vowed to do what they could to defend Humanity's future no matter the odds.

Hibiki and the Spartans who were still wearing their SPI Mark II Armor with their MA5K Carbines back at the Armory came to see how Ezra was doing and Dita was happy to see them, but before she could react, Misty spoke to Hibiki and then to the shock of everyone, Misty kissed Hibiki who was also shocked at this.

Needless to say that Dita was not the least bit happy with the sight of Misty locking lips with the young Tarak teen while the Spartan IIIs looked at the scene with some surprise and Paiway, she was going to have a lot of fun with this image soon enough.

At the moment however, the crew were taking a much needed rest from all the fighting as well since they still needed to unwind, once this world was discovered they were quick to take the advantage of it.

--------

In the Nirvana…

Magno watched the progress of the testing and knew that while this was going to shave time away from their mission to return to the system that had both Tarak and Megele, she knew that the stop would be worth it in order to make sure that they were ready for anything. The upgrades done to the Cube Fighters, the new manta like ship that attacked them days before, and the new appearance and tactical skill of the Harvester Shock Troopers told the elderly woman that they would need to take their abilities to the next level. They were nearly caught flat footed that time, they were not going to go through that again.

The world would also provide a good spot for them to rest and enjoy what it would be like to be on a planet for once. Though many of them were renegades from Megele's government and laws, they missed their home world and that was why their secret pirate base replicated their home immensely to remind them of their home planet, but not the ideals and problems with the society. It was not much to go on, but this world would at least for the time being be used as a testing ground and a vacation spot for the crew to get some much needed rest.

Of course she knew better than to let things be so she had the Dread pilots undergo routine patrols to make sure that they were not suddenly caught off guard as well as Hibiki and Cortana, at the moment Hibiki was currently in the Hanger Bay doing some routine maintenance on his Vanguard and while it seemed that he was back on track the elderly woman had a feeling that the young man was not going to have much of a private life going back all the way to Tarak and Megele, not with several females interested in him.

Despite the fact that she was a calm and serious woman when the need came for that, she did love a bit of gossip every now and then to make time on the Nirvana far from dull. She had heard about the rivalry going on between misty and Dita as well as Jura's sudden interest in having a baby with Hibiki in her target sights. The elderly woman had to admit that she couldn't help but be utterly amused by the whole proceedings since she knew that Hibiki had no idea that he was currently in a situation most young men not born of Tarak would have loved to be in.

Magno had lived a very long time and had seen a lot of things growing up back in the day when the Colonization Fleet moved through space in order to find new worlds for humanity to live on. And she knew for a fact that most young men Hibiki's age would love to be the target of attention from women, even more so from women like Dita, Jura as well as Misty. No doubt it was something that was totally foreign to the young man but at least he was not freaking out like before.

The training and discipline he got from the Spartan matured him while being with the Talvernian men might very well help him learn even more about women. She was well aware of how things between Dita and Hibiki were now, which was totally different from how things were before between the two of them. She could imagine just how interesting thing were for the young man as she had no doubt in her mind that he was about to undergo some very interesting things in his young life.

She wondered just how Dita was handling these new emotions that she was feeling towards Hibiki and while she was finding the actions of Misty and Jura towards Hibiki as somewhat entertaining, she hoped that that sooner or later, all of them would be serious about what was going to happen between them all at this point. She had a feeling that despite his youth Hibiki might very well have a large part to play in the coming times. He had already contributed his share of deeds in fighting the Harvesters, that much was true but she had a feeling there would still be more that can be expected from the young man.

--------

Still in the Nirvana…

"She's so cute!"

Dita said once more as she looked at the sleeping baby in Ezra's arms, the young mother to be was happy that her baby was healthy and safe. The hair raising episode in the elevator was something she was not keen on happening ever again for herself and her baby and she had to thank Hibiki as well as the Spartan IIIs who had shielded her, Dita and her baby Kahlua from harm when they were cut off and were surrounded by advancing Harvester Shock Troopers. The Spartan IIIs made it back to her when she had just given birth to Kahlua and when the Harvester Shock Troopers came for them, the younger Spartans quickly used their Combat Knives to fight off the enemy showing that they were very capable in combat.

Kahlua was thankfully unharmed and so was she and Dita after the fight was over as the trio if Harvester Shock Troopers had been defeated by the Spartan IIIs. She thanked them for saving their lives and the Spartans replied in kind. The result however was that the Spartan IIIs became attached to Ezra and Kahlua, so much so that only after a day or so after being born the young baby seemed to be relaxed around Tom, Lucy, Mark, Olivia, Cade, Leena, Max, and Dante despite them wearing their SPI Mark II Armor, so much so that she would give them smiles when they passed her by and even try to reach out to them.

Currently the Spartan IIIs were working on security detail with the Talvernians as the Nirvana Fire Teams were down there running tests on the Power Armor systems developed by Parfait. They were focused on their work but would routinely take a break and relax a bit more when their shift was over. Cortana herself remained on the Nirvana to manage security detail for the ship as well as long range recon using the Clarion Spy Drones to make sure that they were ready for any possible Harvester assault.

Dita then looked to her friend as Ezra began to sing a lullaby to Kahlua and she wondered what it would be like if she ever had a baby like her friend Ezra. It was the very first time she ever thought about such things as well. She then decided to speak to Ezra as soon as her friend was done singing her child to sleep.

"Ezra, do you think there's a chance I could have a baby with Mr. Alien?"

Ezra looked at Dita with some level of surprise at the question, she knew that her innocent and cheerful young friend wanted to know all there was about men but this was certainly something that she was not expecting from Dita and she thought it over and replied.

"Well….I guess it is possible, our Talvernian friends certainly said it can happen, though they apparently can't get into too many details, and no doubt Cortana knows about it as well. Why do you want to have a baby with Hibiki anyway Dita?"

"I guess I want to."

Ezra thought about it and decided to have a heart to heart talk with her long time friend.

"Dita, having a baby is a wonderful and joyful experience, being able to give life to another especially if it is a part of you is something that is beyond normal words. If you decide to have a baby, you have to really want to have a baby and be ready to raise the child with all your heart, my advice is to have a baby when you are ready. Don't just have child just for the sake of it, being able to have a baby inside you is a very great honor as a woman so it should not be taken lightly by any means."

Dita thought about it and nodded at Ezra's advice as it did make a great deal of sense as well.

"I understand Ezra, but I do want to have a baby with Mr. Alien someday."

"Really? Are you sure?"

Dita nodded and then she thought about Hibiki and then the image of him and her having a baby and raising it together popped into her mind and she smiled in a very happy way and was lost in thought. This was not the least bit lost to Ezra and she couldn't help but ask her friend a very important question.

"You really like Hibiki don't you Dita?"

Dita blushed at that and twiddled her fingers, something the further intrigued Ezra as Dita was not the kind to do such things. Dita thought about her feelings towards Hibiki and decided to talk to Ezra, after all, she was a great friend to her and they had known each other ever since she joined the pirates.

"It's hard to explain Ezra….but I do like Mr. Alien, I like him a lot, chasing was fun as well as surprising him, making food for him and more, but now…I feel….different."

"Different?"

"I want to be close to him Ezra, I want to….I can't really explain it, but I feel happy when he's happy, I like it if he laughs, or complements me when I cook for him. And it feels bad when…"

"When what Dita?"

Dita took her breath in and tried to organize her thoughts at the moment and as soon as she felt that she was ready to speak about her thoughts concerning Hibiki to her long time friend Ezra

"I can't really say why I want to know more about Mr. Alien Ezra….it just feels nice to be around him, even more so than before now….and I sometimes….well I get all unhappy when other women go after Mr. Alien."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I mean….I don't know why, but I really don't like it when others try to take Mr. Alien from me and it hurts when they do…."

"Dita…"

"I really like Mr. Alien Ezra, but I don't know why I feel this deeply now…. I wish I knew why I feel this way, what do you think Ezra? Do I really like Mr. Alien that much?"

Ezra thought over her answer to the question and the gentle hearted new mother replied.

"I guess you do, and I am happy for you in a way Dita, Hibiki's not like your usual man from Tarak and he's really not so bad, so as long as the two of you can get along well with one another, I don't see anything wrong with your feelings towards Hibiki, take your time until you can be sure of your feelings all right?"

Dita smiled and nodded to Ezra.

"I'll do my best!"

--------

In the Hanger…

"All right….a bit more here…"

Hibiki was currently doing some regular field maintenance on his Vanguard as he planed to go out and take part of the routine patrol duty that was currently in motion while the Nirvana Fire Teams and the Spartans were currently working with the Power Armors that parfait had developed recently. He wished he was down there with his mentor the Master Chief, but he followed the Spartan's orders to remain on the Nirvana to make sure that he could defend the ship as well as the planet just in case the Harvesters suddenly came from out of nowhere to attack them.

As he finished his work he turned about to see Felix walking with one of his fellow Talvernians, in this case it was a woman who was very much a redhead like Dita. The Talvernian soldier then spotted Hibiki and spoke to him.

"Hey Hibiki, you need a hand?"

"Naw, I'm done, give me a minute to get down."

As Hibiki joined them after locking back the access panel, placing away his tools and cleaning himself he decided to talk to Felix about his current situation, he wished he could talk to the Master Chief but with his mentor down there to oversee the testing of the Power Armors developed by Parfait he decided to talk to someone who can help with the problem he was dealing with at the moment.

Even after all that had happened, he was not going to have much free time for himself, if it wasn't Dita still following him, it was Misty and there was also Jura who apparently had not given up the idea of having a baby with him of all things. As he spoke to Felix, the Talvernians soldier whistled and so did his female companion and then the young man spoke seriously.

"You have gotten yourself in one hell of a tight spot."

"I didn't do anything to be in it in the first place!"

"That's true, but you're stuck in it now, actually a lot of guys your age would love to be the object of affection of several women, can't imagine why at the moment, but it's supposed to be a guy thing and I have met some guys back in my world who still wish for it to happen to them."

"You serious?!"

"Pretty much, though I guess with you being from an all male planet might have some difficulty with the idea."

The young woman who Hibiki knew now to Sandra spoke to him.

"I have to agree with Felix there, most guys love to be in that kind of situation, and while I can't say I am an authority on the whole thing myself, the reverse can happen and even some women would love to be the center of attention from several men so it's not just limited to men."

Hibiki didn't feel all that better at the moment and replied.

"But how do I deal with all this? I mean….it took some time for me to get used to being chased by Dita and now I have this new girl hounding me and then Jura wanting to have a baby with me of all things!"

It was then that a certain blue haired teen walked in at that moment and Misty was quick to make her move on Hibiki and hugged him deeply on the back.

"My prince!"

"Wha? Hey!"

Felix and Sandra looked on at the sight of the young woman hugging Hibiki and the blush on the young man's face, no doubt recalling the time this young woman had kissed him like that and it seemed that Misty was keen to be close to him as she spoke.

"Hey, do you have any free time Hibiki?"

"What do you mean by that?!"

"I was thinking that you and I could go have something to eat together, like a data or something for today."

The mention of date was enough for Hibiki to recall memories of how he had been introduced to the idea of men and women being intimate, and he blushed at the memories and spoke to Misty.

"You want me to go out on a date with you?!"

"Ooh, so you know what a date is? And here I thought you didn't know what it was and I would have to explain it to you my Prince, so why don't we…."

"Hold it right there Misty."

The others turned and there was Jura Basil Elden and she was giving Hibiki a smile and that made Misty rather wary of the way the voluptuous blonde was looking at Hibiki at the moment and as the blond walked over to Hibiki she looked at him and spoke.

"Now Hibiki, I was wondering about asking you on helping contribute your seed to me in having a baby soon."

Misty blushed bright red and spoke to the blonde as she did the same thing that Dita had done when she tried to get Hibiki to sit next to her.

"Hold it right here blondie! I am not going to let you take my Prince from here!"

"Really now? I just need to get his seed, there's nothing wrong with that is there?"

"You're wrong! You can't just walk up to a guy and ask him to give you his….seed out in public like that! Have you no shame?! If anyone is going to ask Hibiki that it's going to be his girl friend and that girl friend is me!"

"Oh really so I need to be Hibiki's girl friend to get his seed eh? Fair enough, how about it Hibiki? Do you want me to be your girl friend?"

"HEY!!!"

The other turned and there was Dita with a rather unfriendly look on her face and she walked over to stare at the two women and spoke at them.

"Will you two stop?! The only one who deserves to be Mr. Alien's girl friend or go on a date with him or have his seed is me!!!!"

Felix and Sandra looked on, torn between amusement and sympathy as Hibiki found himself in the middle of a three way female argument as Misty, Dita, and Jura were now arguing with one another.

"Shouldn't we put a stop to this before something bad happens?"

Sandra spoke at then seriously.

"I don't even know where to start."

--------

On the planet…

The suits were quickly put through their paces as the data from the suits and their pilots were streaming into Parfait's computer. The Spartans were now the foes the Fire teams had to fight, but thankfully the Spartans were not packing deadly ordnance, but instead, regular paint balls and low level Megele Laser Rifles as well as Covenant weapons that were toned down in lethality after Cortana had fiddled with the systems of the weapons as well as Catherine. These tests were by far the tough ones for the Nirvana Fire Team members and it was not lost to them that they would be fighting the Spartans in this fight, and even though it was not a serious exercise, the women took it seriously as the Spartans did.

Before the Power Armors of Parfait squared off with the Spartans however, the Armors had undergone very difficult tests both for non combat operations and combat operations for the next few days.

The first was their ability to handle the conditions of urban combat, to that end the Power Armors were sent though a instacrete maze of buildings, trenches and more to simulate battle field conditions that were the same when they had been in training when the Fire Teams were first formed and also during their battle with the Harvesters when they helped the Talvernians evacuate their home system. The tests included moving through rubble strewn streets, heavily damaged buildings as well as building corridors and rooms. All in all the Power Armors were not performing up to standard in terms of perfect or near perfect performance.

The reason was the fact that while they were not as bulky as the Space Suits normally worn by the pirates, they were still harder to move in and had some trouble fitting in tight doorways and were certainly not able to be used in easily crawling since it required a lot of power to do so and there was also the fact that it was bit taller and a bit bulkier than the MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor of the Spartans and even more so than the SPI Mark II Armor of the Spartan IIIs.

Another problem was the fact that they were not able to remain hidden due to their increase in mass and height, while the Spartans themselves were not easy to hide, they could make due through their training and the fact that they were wearing the MJOLNIR

However, they did have several advantages. They were able to move rapidly into battle due to the increase of strength and speed given by the Power Armor and could rapidly reach the battle field in urban areas where space was a lot more open for use. They also could easily carry heavier weapons that the Fire Teams who were not able to carry without aid to the battle zone and hold the fort until back up arrived. Moving through large buildings as well as ruined streets was easier in Power Armor and the extra armor did come in handy if they were caught in a fire fight. The fact that they could carry weapons that would normally take several Nirvana Fire Team members and do so in record time meant that they could hold a location long enough for the rest of the force to make it into the battle and support them when the needed it. This allowed the Power Armors to offset their weaknesses and allow Parfait the chance to locate any problems that would crop up in the works.

Another test was in desert territory, for that reason the Power Armors were air lifted there by Pelican to the desert area for their training accompanied by the Spartans and when they arrived, the armors were put through their paces in desert maneuvers and combat. This was to test the functionality of the Power Armor units when they were in desert territory as well as how the pilot/users would be able to handle being in the Power Armors in the desert environment.

It was there that several problems were seen, the first was that the weight ratio systems had to be recalibrated in order to handle the loose sand as this affected the mobility of the Power Armors while they were climbing through the sand dunes. The sand would also get into the cracks and joint areas of the Power Armors that began to inhibit a certain amount of movement, the sand also created static electricity as it hit the armor and that caused some small surges of energy on the armor, not enough to be fatal, but caused disturbances in the scanners and systems.

Apart from the mentioned situations the desert training revealed that the women were under the risk of heat stroke due to the rising temperature and they expended a great deal of sweat and that further increased the risks of heat stroke and dehydration. This was something that was very risky for combat operations and thus the desert training and simulation tests had to be halted for parfait to make needed adjustments and also to help the new members of the testing group cope with the situation before them.

The desert training was considered to be the hard part while the Fire Teams who were part of the testing group had to suck it up and continue with the testing for the next few weeks to help Parfait gather all the needed information to perfect her Power Armor designs, they knew it was needed, but they certainly were not going to like it, though they had to admit even though the Power Armors were nowhere near as advanced as the MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armors used by the Spartan IIs or even the SPI Mark II Armor used by the Spartan IIIs, they now had an idea on how it felt to be wearing a suit that was powerful enough to rival a tank platoon.

The Power Armors had other problems such as overheating issues to the servos and motor circuits, as well as overheating to the processor systems. These were seen as some of the suits would either suddenly lock up or reboot in the most difficult times. The sensors also had to be recalibrated for both operations in night and day in the desert. This training and testing was hard but the data proved helpful as Parfait was able to redesign the flaws on site and double test them to be sure.

The training was then rounded up with a trip to the winter north of the planet with heavy snow and ice, and here the exact reverse of the situation in the desert occurred. The testing team had winter training before when they were in the Fire Teams but in the Power Armors they had to content with the fact that they were inside suits of metal that could conduct cold easier. The next problem was the freezing up of the systems in the suits due to the cold weather. Some women began to get colds as well as the flu so they had to pulled out for Parfait to change the temperature settings for the Power Armors.

The reverse happened as well as systems would freeze and servos would lock up due to the cold environment as well as processors unable to deal with the cold environment would literally melt themselves in order to remain warm, this caused further delays and more work for the engineers who were now wearing UNSC Marine issue winter clothing. The repairs would ensure that the Power Armors would be able to regulate temperature in themselves and the users to keep them from freezing up.

The tests were taken on other locations as well and with each new problem, Parfait came up with solutions and Catherine also did the same thing, both of them working together to perfect Parfait's Power Armor design, however it was not long before many of the suits would have to be taken down for them to be recycled and the still functional spare parts that were taken out were to be used to repair the suits that were brought in for replacement work.

The Power Armors were also subjected to a serious battery of tests in terms of their shielding systems and armor plating to gauge just how much damage could they take before failing due to damage from weapons fire, thankfully these suits were not worn by any member of the Nirvana Fire Teams and thus were already active and were remotely scanned. This was by far the most brutal but essential test, Parfait knew that while she had endeavored to give the Power Armors as much protection as she could without making them too bulky, this was going to be a very important test that her prototypes could never afford to fail.

All the UNSC and Tarak weapons brought in for the live fire tests were all using live and lethal rounds with the energy weapons from Megele the Covenant, and the Harvesters were all at their high and very much lethal settings. There was no doubt that some if not all the suits for this tests were going to be either severely damaged and had to be recycled or outright destroyed and that made Parfait sad, but the plucky head engineer knew that it was for a very good cause and she could always build new ones to replace those that were destroyed.

The results on the first suit that was hit by live fire was not very promising as the shields were burned out by the concentrated fire before it in a few minutes worth of firing, showing that a need to increase the shield strength and durability had to be addressed in a later date, the shields would also need to have an upgrade on their recovery time since the shields took a bit longer to recharge themselves and the armor plating would have to undergo some thickening in some areas that were critical in ensuring the survival of the user as well as protecting them from being crippled in combat.

The weapons tests were harsh and a good number of the suits being tested were badly damaged but still holding on, the upgrades later done by Parfait addressed most of the key issues with the systems and the data she got was worth it to make sure that the protection systems for the Power Armors were better.

The remaining suits were then pitted against the Spartans and the results showed that the Spartans were still the best at what they did though the Power Armors certainly upped the ante for the Fire teams as they spared with the members of Blue team. The data would prove very helpful in combat as it would mean that the Power Armors would give the Fire teams a fighting chance should they encounter enemies to powerful to fight with conventional methods and weapons.

As the tests continued, the Master Chief couldn't help but wonder just what was going on back in the dimension where they had come from.

--------

In Earth…

Lord Hood looked over t6he latest reports from the field and rubbed his forehead just as Churchill appeared from the nearby holo-tank.

"Lord Hood, we have received reports from several of the Colonization fleets."

"What do they have to report?"

The Third Generation Smart AI spoke in the same tone as Winston Churchill did as it filled in the high ranking UNSC official of the UNSC.

"The planets they have discovered have proven to be viable for human habitation and colonization there are adequate resources for mining, construction, manufacturing, agriculture and more sir. There are also strategic worlds that we can establish bases on for future defense and military expansion as well as R&D work."

"Good, have there been any signs of Covenant Loyalist activity?"

"None as of late Lord Hood, however, the Kig Yar pirates have been active recently and no doubt are being used by the Jiralhanae to harass our ships."

The high ranking leader of the UNSC sighed but he had to expect that, a lot has happened over the past few years and a good portion of it was very much welcome to all for the most part. Ever since the end of the UNSC-Covenant War with the victory going to both the UNSC and the Covenant Separatists, the UNSC and earth had begun to rebuild, the problems were growing as most of the Inner Colonies were either reduced to glass or severely damaged, while the Outer Colonies were nearly lost in the fighting with the Covenant. It was very much a logistical nightmare as well as economical and political to find the new places for the refugees of the UNSC to live in. There was also the staggering amounts of damages suffered in both the surviving Colonies and to Earth itself, it would be impossible for Colonization efforts to take place with the situation as it was, not to mention the sheer cost in the UN Credit reserves that they had in order to finance the effort.

It was then that the Sangheili came into the picture and not in a military fashion.

The Arbiter who was now recognized as Thel 'Vadam had arrived along with his friend Rtas'Vadum returned to earth after being cleared and they had a small fleet of Covenant Separatist ships with them. At first this was unexpected and then Thel replied that this was the Fleet of Repentant Reparations before them, not a military contingent and then the Arbiter handed Lord Hood NAV coordinates and when the Fleet Admiral asked what these were for, the Arbiter explained.

He and his fellow Sangheili, including the surviving Councilors had decided to make amends to the UNSC and had sent scouting ships to go forth and search for systems that were habitable by human standards and could be colonized by the humans. This was to show that they were willing to show how far they were going to go in being allies with the UNSC and how they wanted to make up for the billions of civilians and millions of UNSC personnel they had killed when they were still believing the lies of the Prophets. The efforts had been long but a considerable number of habitable worlds were eventually found, the worlds were scanned and catalogued for what resources were there for the humans to make use of. As soon as that was done, the scouts gathered all the relevant data and the Slipspace coordinates and headed back to Sanghelios to gather all the coordinates and give them to the UNSC. Though the Prophets were finally wiped out, the Elites had learned more than enough in the arts of science and technology to handle their own needs in the arts of science and technology.

Naturally there were still those who resented the Elites and doubted this, but Lord Hood took a chance and asked for a small team of ships that were available to be sent out to see of the worlds were indeed habitable, and the Arbiter agreed to lead the fleet personally while under the watch of several high ranking UNSC officers as proof of good faith and so did Rtas'Vadum . The fleet was assembled and comprised of some Frigates a handful of Destroyers, and some of the aging Halcyon Class Cruisers that amazingly were still in service. It had been expensive as hell and there were plenty of people, who still disliked and doubted the Elites for this action, but Lord Hood took the chance and it paid off.

The Covenant Separatists did one better and had provided the UNSC Fleet with a large number of Slipspace Drives that they had which were of a much better class than the Shaw-Fujikawa class Slipspace Engines that were on all UNSC ships. As soon as the drives were there, the Separatists asked permission to have the Huragok fuse the two engine types. The Huragok took some time to adapt to working for the Elites but it worked and the artificial creatures created by the Forerunner millennia before were a bit easier for the Elites to command.

The floating creatures went to work and fused both Covenant and UNSC Slipspace engines together, creating a highly advanced hybrid engine was then installed into the Fleet of UNSC Ships and soon they were sent out to see if these worlds that the Elites had given were indeed worthy of colonization for Humanity in order to recover form the war so long ago.

The worlds proved to be worthy of habitation, numbering at least eight hundred in all, amazingly enough, the number was the very same number of worlds that had been in the UNSC's control before the War with the Covenant. This fact showed once and for all that the Elites were truly allies of Humanity. In the years to come, small Phoenix Class Colony Ships were sent out to colonize these new worlds, and these ships too were now equipped with the new hybrid Slipspace Drives to allow for much faster arrival time for the human colonists. There were new colonies soon springing up in these new worlds and it was not long before viable colonies were founded. These colonies were but the first as more were sent out and it was not long before the UNSC had a large number of new Colonies.

It had been a great boon and further healed the rift between the UNSC and the Sangheili forces, even more so that there was now a Sangheili embassy in the UNSC. And with the new worlds that were slowly growing and being populated by new Colonists from earth and the other Colonies, things seemed to be on the mend. Agriculture flourished and food began to flow into the UNSC as the worlds that were now colonized were more than adequate to breed large amounts of food animals and crops. The resources coming in for industry began to grow, and economically, the UNSC was healing from the wounds of war, food rationing began to die down and riots began to end. The UNSC was finally seeing peace once more, materials for expansion were coming in and it was not long before the UNSC Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Navy would be more than ready to stand and defend Humanity.

The lessons from the former War with the Insurrectionist Movements and then with the Covenant were not forgotten as the UNSC decided to revamp it's colonial policies to prevent wild fire wars to spread out in the newly growing colonies. They also made sure to have sizable garrisons there in the new colonies as well as better defenses for both ground locations and orbital defenses and a lot of work had to be done in order to deal with the every increasing number of colonies in the new worlds that they were now expanding on. One philosopher said the best, the human race was stubborn and would survive no matter the odds and they have survived.

However, the two factions knew that there was still plenty of work left to do. The Jiralhanae were still out there as well as the Kig Yar, a number of their Unggoy followers, the Yanme'e, and some of the Lekgolo would still pose a threat to them all. The Brutes hated the Elites fiercely as well as the UNSC, therefore, there was always the risk that they would continue to fight with them. The Brutes were violent beasts and the horrors they unleashed on Humanity was far from forgotten by those who learned of the conflict or by those who were part of it and it was held in general consensus that as long as the Loyalists were around, the peace that the UNSC had as well as the Separatists were still shaky at best.

The Kig Yar race' own actions in the war were far from forgotten, the fact that they were the ones who told the Prophets of the existence of Humanity and had committed atrocities of their own that marked them as enemies in the eyes of Humanity for as long as they lived. The UNSC had never forgotten the brutal nature of the Kig Yar and the Elites never forgave the Kig Yar for their materialistic nature as well as their pirate tendencies

Rumors also persisted that there was a new Prophet rising up and that prophet was named the Prophet of Divine Revenge for the death of Truth and many others. It gave Hood headaches to think that yet another one of those religious hysterics were going to start yet another war with Humanity. But this time, things were on their side, the Sangheili were valued allies and were more than willing to fight side by side with them and with their greater understanding of Covenant and Forerunner technology, they would have the advantage this time.

"Lord Hood, we have a message from The Arbiter."

"Bring it up."

Lord Hood faced the holo-tank and there was Thel 'Vadam who still wore the Arbiter Armor but it had been retrofitted with better technology and systems to make it a lot more up to date with the needs of the battle field. While the Elite was head of his people now before the UNSC, there was no doubt in the Fleet Admiral's mind that the Arbiter still wished to be in the forefront of battle. It was in the nature of the Sangheili to be in battle and Thel was no different.

"Greetings Lord Hood."

"Greetings to you as well Arbiter, what's the situation?"

"We have received reports that have confirmed the rumors, apparently a prophet is leading the Loyalists once more."

"Damn….I always thought that after High Charity got corrupted by the Flood that those bastards won't be around anymore, do you have anything on him at the moment?"

"Neon as of yet, however, we do know that this Prophet will not be alone, there no doubt will be others. We stand ready for this threat Lord Hood, the lies of the Prophets might have died with Truth on the Ark, but if another dares to spout them again, we will gladly rip that liar's tongue out."

"Don't forget we want him dead too, No one here wants a replay of the war and we're damn sure not going to let some religious lunatic start another one."

Thel nodded and replied.

"Then let it be so Lord Hood, we will do our best to locate this elusive Prophet and bring him to light, once that is done, we shall hunt him down, we would be honored if your people were to join us in hunting down this liar."

"We will."

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Back in the other dimension, at least six weeks later…

As the days passed, the testing of the Power Armors carried on and the crew also took the time to relax themselves and bleed out the stress that had been on them for quite a while now. As soon as the testing was over and the suits were hauled back up to the Nirvana for further tuning, changes, and upgrades while those that were lost to the testing were either retrofitted and repaired or were broken down for spare parts and also to be melted back into useful components. While Parfait was sad on how much abuse her creations took, the data that came back from those very same tests would allow her to better perfect the design, plus the actual performance data would be helpful should they decide to mass produce more of the Power Armors for special uses.

In the mean time the crew got the chance to relax as best they could, and the Fire Teams also managed to find yet more wild animals and wild plants that could be edible and hunting parties were sent out to gather all that they could. The Vanguards were also sent down to the planet's surface to gather the viable metals on the planet that they could afford to take with them. As soon as all the materials were brought up via shuttle and Albatross, the crew took the chance to enjoy the atmosphere of the planet while patrols were doing on. As soon as time was up, the Nirvana packed up and moved on to reach Tarak and Megele and do whatever they could in order to make it to their home system and get ready for the battle with the harvester forces making their way there to the two worlds.

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In the Nirvana…

CLANG!!!!

Meia grunted as she tried her best to stand and push back as she held the Energy Sword in one hand while the Master Chief who was out of his MJOLNIR Mark VI Armor as it was currently being studied by Dr. Catherine in the Engineering bay to find out just what sort of things had happened to the Armor when the Master Chief and Cortana had been brought to this dimension. So far, the young woman was holding her own before the Spartan despite the fact that she was nowhere near the same in terms of physical ability to the Spartan.

As the two moved and fought one another Meia began to get used to the method on how to fight with the Energy Sword, she normally avoided close combat despite her hand to hand combat skills and rarely used weapons apart from her Laser Ring, but she was a quick study and wanted to learn as much as she could in order to defend both herself and the people who were under her care.

John was not a true expert in wielding the Covenant based Energy Sword, in fact, he knew for a certainty that only two races ever used this energy weapon with excellent efficiency, the Elites and on occasion the Brutes. However, due to his training and combat experience fighting the Covenant, he was a quick study though of a much higher degree than most humans his age. As they moved through the motions Meia finally reached her limit and placed down her Energy Sword showing that she was tired and needed a break, the Spartan nodded and deactivated his Energy Sword. While he could have taught the Nirvana Fire Teams how to best use the Energy Sword, it was too risky and as a close combat weapon was not something one brought into the open battle field unless the one in question was highly skilled in combat the Energy Swords.

"Not bad Meia, you've grasped the basics well enough."

Meia nodded at that as she was still in her normal outfit but didn't wear the chest and shoulder padding to give her body more maneuvering room in order to fight better.

"Thanks Chief, by the way…"

"Yes?"

"Do you….recall your parents?"

John was silent at that, truth be told he had forgotten just what his parents looked like, but at least re called how he grew up before being taken into the Spartan II Program. He had been a regular kid in his home city but he was already quite a different kid then due to his height, mental strength as well as physical strength. He then focused on his parents and tried his best to answer Meia's question, and then he replied.

"Not exactly, I don't remember much about my life, only that I loved playing Grav-ball and I was….different as a kid."

Meia cocked her head a bit and spoke once more.

"Different? How so?"

"I was….already a foot taller than most kids my age, and I was only six then. The coaches said I was so good with grav-ball that that they forbade me to play."

"So you never knew your parents?"

"No….only that I had them."

Meia felt sad, she might not have always gotten along with her fahma and ohma but at least she knew them well, the Spartan couldn't even remember the faces of his parents and that made her feel sorry for him, though she never said it, she knew that the Spartan didn't want or needed sympathy in this case, this was the life they had and despite how strange it was to others, it suited the Spartan, but still, there was no denying the fact that it was a hard life and she wondered how things would have been had John not been part of the Spartan II Program.

"Sorry I brought that up."

"Not a problem, come on, we still have more training to do."

Meia nodded and ignited her Energy Sword as the Spartan activated his own as the spared once more with one another.

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In the Conference Room…

"So these are the results from all the tests run by the ground teams Buzam?"

Buzam nodded as she, Gascogne, Meia, Duero, and Magno looked at the information, normally Cortana and John would be there to lend their support but the two were currently working with the Nirvana Fire Teams at the moment while Catherine was currently running some studies on the Paeksis to understand it, Chief Mendez was there however and the gruff, strict by the book UNSC Marine and Spartan I was there to give his own opinion on the performance of the Power Armors of Parfait's design. The other Spartans were also busy with routine training as well as working out with the other crew on the Nirvana.

"Yes, so far the suits have performed well enough o merit their use if the situation calls for the need of them. However, they do have weak points that can be a problem until Parfait fixes them, overall, the Power Armors did what they were made to do, provide the wearers the best possible protection as well as provide the ability to carry heavier loads, better mobility as well a s communications and sensor range."

Magno nodded and spoke next to Parfait.

"How soon can you have new models Parfait?'

Parfait looked over the compiled information and replied.

"It might take a number of months, at least two or three at best but with all the tactical and performance data we gathered using the prototypes back on the planet. I can get the kinks worked out without a hitch, though we might need to test the new models still cover all the possible angles that I might miss."

Magno then turned to Duero for the medical reports on the pilot/users of the Power Armors.

"Are there any topics that you wish to mention Duero?"

The Tarak youth nodded and he gave his report, as Chief Medical officer of the Nirvana he had to give his full report to make sure that there was no health risk to the users of the Power Armors since that was something the pirates had to avoid or minimize as best they could, along with the fact that his input could save lives.

"The users appear to have suffered no drawbacks, though I do recommend that special temperature regulation systems be used in areas were they are at risk from heat stroke or hypothermia. I recently picked up some considerable temperature fluctuations in some of the users when they were in their winter area training with the Power Armors. We also need to help them avoid heat stroke since there was a considerable risk of them suffering that in their desert training simulations as well as in the barren areas."

"Hmmm….good concerns, any suggestions?"

"We could use a special water filtration and purification system to help them recycle water so they will have a built in water supply to prevent dehydration, I would also recommend them having a bit more cold and heat training to make sure that they are able to adapt better in cold or hot environments. I also recommend them to have special nutrient supply systems in their Power Armors to provide them with food supplements, sugars, as well as carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins and proteins in order to battle the pangs of hunger and provide them with the needed energy when having meals in combat is too risky."

Buzam had to admit that such effort on an armor system was unheard of back on Megele but this was a unique situation and they had to take all the best options they had on hand to ensure the success of the operations. She knew the women would love to have a good meal, but when eating was out of the question, the solutions suggested by Duero could save lives.

"I see….Chief Mendez….what do you think of the Power Armors?"

The Spartan I thought it over and spoke seriously.

"Overall, your head engineer made some fairly serious work, the Power Armors she made might not match either Covenant technology or that of the MJOLNIR Series made by Dr. Halsey, but it will do for the situation we have on hand, however, if the Fire Teams are to be trained, I suggest that Head Engineer Parfait design simulator consoles with all the data we gathered to test the users to make sure that if there is no planet for us to test on, we can retain all the skills developed in the initial testing."

"Fair enough…all right, this meeting is ended."

As the others left Buzam sighed and spoke to the elderly woman.

"We have gone a long way ever since the raid all those months before….haven't we Captain?"

"yes we have….but we never thought we would have the fate of humanity thrust on us back then either, let alone meeting the Master Chief, Cortana, facing the Harvesters and more besides. All things considered, I shudder at how thing might have turned out if we hadn't been there at that exact time and place."

"That's true….maybe fate meant for us to be there at that moment Captain?"

"Maybe…we still have a long road ahead I think."

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To be continued…

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Author's notes:

Yet another project done! Man I needed that a lot, it feels great to finally end this chapter the way I wanted. Though I have to admit that some ideas from you my readers have found their way here into this chapter. This goes to show that I have placed a considerable amount of time in considering viable ideas into the story.

As you can see, the situation with the UNSC and their allies the Covenant Separatists has grown into a stable and firm alliance and it seems that the Elites had decided to make amends for their actions under the lies of the Prophets when they were still part of the old Covenant. This would also show that the UNSC is now getting back on it's feet.

But it seems that the Loyalists are far from defeated and there is no doubt that the UNSC and their Separatist Allies are far from finished in fighting their foes, but united, they will be more than a match for the Loyalists. Now the big question is, how will the new characters mentioned as well as Jessica al-Cygni Johnson appear in the VanDread Universe?

Wait and see for it will appear soon enough!


	4. Chapter 4

VanDread Halo The Second Stage

Disclaimer: I don't own VanDread or Halo, and I don't own GONZO or Bungie either, all right?

Chapter 3

Shield World

( ): Thoughts

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The Nirvana was currently orbiting a nearby planet beneath it, it was a brown world that resembled a world entirely made of mud or something like mud. However, the Nirvana was there for a reason and it was a very extreme humanitarian mission to say the very least. The recon showed that the world was safe to breath in but had a high level of pollutants in the air as well as traces of pollutants in the soil as well as the water.

Normally such a hostile world would have been long avoided by the crew…but not this one, Their scans had shown that there were signs of habitation on this toxic world. This prompted an investigation by the pirates on just who could possibly live in such a hostile environment as this one. The ground team would have to take immunization shots in order to avoid getting sick or infected, however such was not needed for the Spartans of the much larger Blue Team.

John and the other Spartans volunteered to go ahead in HEVs to check the place out and bring intel on just who would be living in this world. The Spartans were more than able to handle the mission and due to their long years of combat experience were better suited for the more dangerous tasks of front line recon work.

What they saw and the images there and sent back to the people back on the Nirvana….were more than enough to warrant their stay on this world. They had discovered a very brutal and inhumane experiment conducted by the Harvesters.

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In a nearby medical facility…

Duero looked about the world, seeing the harsh glare of the sun as the poisoned earth gave this world a dying look that continued to both shock and anger him, he looked away from the window and couldn't help but feel his anger as well as his disbelief grew even more.

He like everyone else on the Nirvana was utterly horrified by the sight that was being relayed to them by the Spartans who went ahead of the ground team for the duty of advanced recon work, As soon as the Spartans were all listed to be all right after their HEVs hit the ground, they moved out, finding what appeared to be settlements, but their scanners could show that the surface of the world was heavily polluted, not enough to instantly kill humans but guarantee a slow, lingering, and very painful death while barely enough to sustain a mockery of life.

The Spartans did the same analysis in the air as well as the water, finding the same level of pollutants and they were also themselves surprised at just who would live in this hostile and unforgiving world. It was then that they saw the people there…and so did the Nirvana crew.

Seeing the inhabitants on screen from the live feed from the helmet cameras of the Spartans was enough to horrify all the people on the Nirvana…the people looked like they were barely clinging on to life, a massive number of them were already gaunt with disease, their skins had blisters and worse, they were skeletal and even the ones who appeared to be young adults looked like they were also dying, and it was a slow, agonizing, and lingering death. Even the healthy looking ones were dying internally as the Spartans could see. The people didn't react negatively to the presence of the Spartans and that was a sign that these people had resigned themselves to death.

Magno couldn't take the sight anymore and ordered the full ground team to be sent in to find out just what was going on as soon as they were all ready. The ground teams were given full medical protection and therefore were more than ready and able to handle the deadly environment that they had no found themselves in. As soon as they got there, the ground team went to work trying to find a viable solution to help the people on this poisoned world.

Duero and the others learned that this world was another test site used by the Harvesters, they had intentionally polluted this world in order to replicate the conditions that had reduced Earth into nothing but a giant washing machine that could no longer support life. They wanted to see if they could use this world as a test site to discover a way to harden their organs and bodies to the harsh world they lived in.

To see these innocent people being used as lab animals by the Harvesters appalled and angered Duero to no end as well as Dr. Catherine who was there with the others. To add further insult to injury, the Harvesters were even taking the bodies of the dead for their own needs, leaving the people with no memories of their loved ones for even if they had the strength to dig even basic graves for their loved ones as the Harvesters would quickly take the bodies like vultures.

In that effect, the only way for the people to remember and mourn their dead was to make dolls of their loved ones and eventually themselves when they too were going to die, and all these dolls were sent into a store house. This was the same store house visited by the ground team and the Spartans.

The Spartan IIs were able to absorb this though Catherine could tell that John, Kelly, Linda, and Fred were appalled by what they were seeing the massive number of dolls that were being stored there in the warehouse, the Spartan IIIs who were there as well were also shocked and enraged by this and it took some effort by SCPO Mendez to keep the young Spartans from losing themselves in their anger. The senior Spartan kept them focused on the task at hand as he guided the still shocked Spartans to security detail to make sure that the people on this planet were not going to suddenly find themselves under attack by the Harvesters.

They were not the only ones as some of the pirates who were part of the ground team were not in the least bit happy about the situation these people were in. And seeing the dolls provided more than enough incentive for the pirates to do whatever they could in order to help these people as best they could. Duero was angered by all this and while he knew that the medical treatment he, Paiway, and Catherine was helping it was only a temporary thing. Magno however was not going to give up after seeing the full extent of the Harvesters' experiments on this world and the suffering of the people who were forced to live here.

At the moment, Parfait and her engineers were working on finding a possible solution to ensure that the people in this world had a fighting chance to survive and prosper as was their right to live. The problem facing Parfait and her crew was going to be a very large thing, but Duero had no doubt in his mind that Parfait could handle it.

Paiway herself felt great sadness at seeing the deplorable conditions of these people, even the men who lived here were so weakened and sick that she couldn't help but wish that the soon to come medical supplies from the Nirvana could be enough to give the people here young and old alike a chance to survive. And she hoped that her fellow pirate Parfait could find a solution soon to help these poor people.

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In deep space in the VanDread…

"All right Parfait, we'll keep things cool up here."

Hibiki sighed and moved away from the communications system to take a break, he knew that this was going to be a very long mission and no doubt boredom was going to set into him soon enough. But he knew that it was important that he held his location as well as Jura did to ensure that the project being started there on the planet's surface could be done in peace.

Short of terra-forming the entire planet which they had neither the supplies nor the time to do, the only chance that they could give the people of this world was to build special isolation chambers that could very well hold fields that would help isolate the people who were expecting children and allow the children to be born healthy and whole.

Hibiki and Jura were to play a key role in the experiment as well as keep the Harvesters from getting to the surface to cause mischief to the project. At the moment, Hibiki ran some tests on the scanners and systems while the blonde Dread pilot had other things on her mind as she was busy with manicuring her fingernails. As soon as she was done with the said job to paint her nails, she directed her attention on Hibiki.

"Hey Hibiki, can we talk?"

Hibiki had no idea just what was going on with Jura at the moment but he decided to reply since he had nothing else to do for the next few hours.

'All right, what is it you want to talk about?"

"You realize that we're all alone up here in our VanDread right?"

Jura moved closer to the Tarak teen and that action was not lost to the Tarak youth either, Hibiki had no idea but the suddenly seductive and predatory look Jura was giving him was sending the wrong signals right into his brain at that exact moment.

"Yeah, so what about it?"

Jura grinned seductively and pressed her body right next to Hibiki who found himself being drawn to her form though why he had no idea at the moment. Nevertheless, the Tarak teen suddenly found himself looking at the seductive blonde as she was now touching him with her body and those things called her breasts were on his arm. He was confused and somewhat slightly frightened as to why his body was acting this way towards Jura at the moment as his body temperature began to climb as he gave her the once more. Every instinct bred into him by his life on Tarak told him to run, yet a deeper, more primal and amazingly normal instinct in him told him to stay there….not to mention do something to the blonde as his mind began to show him images of…

(Augh! Why am I thinking like that?! Why am I looking at Jura this way?! This never happened before so why now?!) (1)

Jura noticed that and couldn't help but smile warmly as well as feel that she had finally gotten Hibiki's full attention and she spoke.

"So that means we're all alone here and whatever happens here in this VanDread will be only between the two of us!"

That sent sirens going off in Hibiki's brain as he finally managed to got his mental faculties back into order and he spoke as he finally tried to get away from the seductive blonde.

"What the heck are you talking about?!"

Jura was not going to give up her chase just yet. Since she was with Hibiki at the moment and he was the only one here, she was going to get his seed. Also, she was starting to like the idea of making a guy squirm, she found it….interesting and entertaining. With that in mind the blonde moved her chair to follow Hibiki.

"You know what I am talking about Hibiki! I want to have your seed so I can have a baby, I told you that before that I wanted to have a baby and I meant it! I want to have a baby and I want you to be the ohma of my daughter Hibiki."

"You can't possibly be serious?!"

Hibiki felt like he was going to lose his self control at this point and he still didn't know why! This was something that utterly confused him as his body began to react in ways that totally baffled him. He tried to think of other things such as doing training in the Forward Unto Dawn, repairing and upgrading his Vanguard, cleaning up messes in the register, eating Dita's…

However the very second he thought of Dita, the memories of what Duero suggested he do with Dita in order to see if it was true that men and women could have children together flashed right back into his mind and recalling what Felix told them as well, in that effect he began to imagine him being with Dita doing the things that Jura was suggesting, that effectively made him blush like mad as he tried his best to banish such thought from his mind.

However, Jura was not going to give up just yet and she continued to pursue the young Tarak teen and she was using every skill she had at seduction to get him to agree to her advances and while she was not sure why Hibiki was beet red at the moment, she had a feeling she was already getting a good deal of success in.

"Oh but I am Hibiki, and now that we're alone here on the VanDread….we can get down to it."

Hibiki quickly moved away, he knew that with the cockpit design of the VanDread his Vanguard and Jura made, there was no way he could get away forever from the voluptuous blonde but he certainly was not going to give up trying as well as trying to make sense of his body's already confusing reactions. He managed to speak a this point as he got some distance.

"Have you even considered what you're saying to me?!"

"What else is there for me to think about? I thought it was time to for me to be a mother and I want you help me."

Hibiki however was not going to fall for it just yet and spoke.

"Exactly what made you think this way?"

Jura smiled and replied.

"I wanted to have a baby who can be as beautiful as Ezra's baby and I feel that I would make a good mother someday."

Hibiki was not entirely convinced, he was no expert when it concerned how women on Megele had children but he had heard how it was done by listening to Duero during his time taking his annual medical check up. He however knew that the women of Megele could have children with one another so it was confused and shocked him that someone like Jura was interested in having his seed to have a baby.

"So why are you asking me to help you with having a baby?! You could certainly ask Barnette to help you with having a baby and I know she'd be all right with the whole thing."

"True, but I heard that men and women could have children together, have you heard of it Hibiki."

Hibiki scratched his head and tried to come up with a viable answer to that question, and he decided to answer it before things got really strange.

"Yeah, I've heard of that."

"See? So why don't we find out if it is possible for a man and woman to have a baby together?"

Hibiki however was not going to just let that happen right off the bat and tried to his best to reason with the very eager and willing blonde woman before him. He was still uncomfortable with the whole situation before him since he had no idea just how do deal with a woman asking him to help her with having a baby.

"Do you even know just how a man and a woman can have a baby together?!"

He hoped that this would prove Jura something to think about and disregard the whole idea of her having to take his seed since he really doubt that he was ready for the idea of having a baby with a woman. However, the blonde woman was going to surprise him yet again as she replied in earnest.

"Actually no, but that certainly doesn't mean that I can't learn, how hard can that be?"

Hibiki was shocked at that and he tried to find a way out of this before something happened that would be something that he was ill prepared to deal with at this moment, despite getting to be lot more comfortable with being around omen he was not comfortable with the idea of being intimate with a woman at this moment.

"You have any idea what you're suggesting we do Jura?! Getting a man's seed the old fashioned way is NOT as easy as it sounds!"

It was then Jura tried another tactic if she couldn't sweet talk Hibiki, then maybe wounding his pride would work, though she decided to keep that to minimum as she wanted not to antagonize Hibiki, she respected him enough not to push too far when the situation was not ideal.

"Are you being a coward Hibiki?"

"What?!"

"I just want your seed, it's not like I'm asking for a lot from you?"

"Where I come from Jura, asking a man to give you his seed to have a baby IS asking a lot! Besides you and I can't just get naked and put…."

Hibiki paled instantly as he realized his slip of the tongue and he was well aware that he couldn't take that back, he HOPED Jura was not going to go THAT far. However, Jura, being the extroverted and strong minded blonde lady that she was decided to accomplish just that.

"So we have to be naked for me to get your seed? All right, I can do that with no problem."

Before Hibiki could do anything to try and stop Jura from doing something that he felt he was not ready for, the blonde removed her dress and she was now before Hibiki in her full naked glory.

Hibiki could only gasp as he was now looking at a woman….naked. He was struck dumb and was now glued to his seat and unable to respond, Jura smiled at that and saw that her ploy had worked and she was now free to go ahead and find the seed that Hibiki had in him. The blonde moved closer to him and she reached out to remove Hibiki's Marine Body Armor and with that suit out of the way, she went to work on his clothes while she was still very much naked. She was not being impatient with the whole thing as she took her time.

After a few minutes of proper searching on the still stunned and shocked Hibiki, she spoke

"So where do you find the seed on a man?"

That was enough to finally get Hibiki out of his stupor, but Jura had already got half of his clothes off of him and since his Marine Body Armor was the first to go he was now very much in his normal clothes which didn't do anything to impede Jura's progress and it was not long before he was only wearing his inner body suit.

That was enough to get Hibiki worked up and he shouted

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME?!"

Jura grinned at Hibiki and replied.

"I am getting you naked so you can give me your seed and make me pregnant, so where exactly do I find it Hibiki?"

Hibiki was blushing bright red as Jura pressed ever closer to him and he tried to pry himself free but Jura would have none of it as the two engaged in a game, with Hibiki trying to keep himself in some state of dress while Jura wanted him to lose the clothes. The whole situation turned into one heck of a match between then two of them.

"STOPIT!!!"

"Is it here?"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"Now where is your seed Hibiki?"

"GIVE THAT BACK!!!!"

"Is it here?"

"NO!!!!!"

"Or maybe here!"

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!"

Jura was rendered silent as she found herself staring at a certain part of male anatomy, the blonde remained silent for a few more minutes as she looked Hibiki over and then after she got he breath back, she spoke.

"So….the rumors about men were true after all."

"YOU CRAZY WOMAN!!! GIVE ME BACK MY LOINCLOTH!!!!"

--------

Unknown to Hibiki, his little scene with Jura at that moment was not unnoticed since the COM system in the VanDread was still online and everyone who was working and using it heard ALL the details.

--------

Cortana was laughing really hard as she was in her AI form while on the bridge…

Magno herself was also trying her level best not to laugh out loud at the news while Buzam and the other members of the bridge crew were confused by all that was happening before them and were naturally embarrassed at the idea of Jura appearing naked before Hibiki. She knew that there was going to a very serious discussion as soon as Hibiki got back to the Nirvana.

--------

In the Talvernian section…

Every last member of the Talvernian contingent were glued to their seats and were trying their best not to laugh out loudly, the men were taking bets on Hibiki's next course of action while the women were eager to see just what Jura was going to do now that she had seen the men's most prized body part.

--------

Gascogne was trying her best not to burst out laughing at this though she had to admit that she was VERY curious about what exactly Jura was looking at.

--------

The rest of the pirates were also glued to their communication systems at that moment. The Spartans were totally relaxed at this while Catherine had to give a slight smile while Mendez merely grunted and planned to remind Hibiki that while he was not really a member of the military, he was breaking the regulations against fraternization in the ranks.

**************

It was not long before Dita and Misty got into the act and spoke to Jura to leave Hibiki alone, though the two younger women were shocked to see Hibiki nude along with Jura who merely told them to wait their turn, she was already this close to get Hibiki's seed. That ignited the tempers of both Dita and Misty as they told her to leave Hibiki alone.

Jura however was not bothered as she hugged Hibiki will still in the nude and it was not long before Hibiki finally fainted.

Magno stepped in and after Jura was finally dressed and Hibiki revived form what he had seen, they were sent back to do their work. However there was no doubt that Hibiki was not going to be able to easily forget what had just happened to him.

**************

On the surface…

Bart was currently regaling a young blonde girl named Shirley about several tall tales about the adventures he ad been part of ever since working with the pirates. Shirley was the most visible symbol of the cruelty of the Harvesters on these people.

Despite being only at the tender age of eight turning nine in a few days, she was doomed to die at that same age. Shirley had been born in this ICU for as long as she could remember, her body had been so frail and so weakened that leaving the ICU was not an option for her.

Bart had taken shine to the young girl and Shirley did likewise to Bart, laughing and smiling at all the stories that he would share with her, even though they were not entirely true or were exaggerated. Some of the pirates wanted Bart to leave the young girl alone, but the Master Chief said no to that, and so did Catherine, both the Spartan and the UNSC scientist could see that both Bart and Shirley were friends and as long as Shirley can laugh, smile and be happy with Bart then it was all right. It would help her cope with her current condition as well as give her a chance to have a normal life.

Bart loved to talk a lot and it was actually nice to meet someone who would not only listen but enjoy and laugh at his stories, and Shirley became the only female friend he had in this world and while he knew they would not be here long, he was going to make the most of it. Besides he found being with Shirley very relaxing and she was a nice person.

However Bart knew full well the danger that loomed over his friend and made it a point to try and convince Duero that they could take Shirley and the people away from here and find them a much safer and clearer place to live, the Nirvana had more than enough room and supplies to take the extra passengers.

However he was about to find out that despite his noble intentions, such a plan was not without complications.

--------

Bart looked at John, Catherine, as well as Duero with utter looks of shock and disbelief. He had placed his idea to Catherine and Duero and he hoped that it could be done to save his friend Shirley and the rest of her people, but when they said no to his suggestion, his hope was turned to shocked confusion.

"What do you mean we can't take them with us?! There's plenty of room on the Nirvana to take them all! We can't just leave them here on this world to die like this!!!"

The UNSC genius scientist spoke to Bart, she could see that he was so desperate to save Shirley from this fate and others as well, she wanted to do the same thing, but she had to be realistic on this. There were too many things that were against the idea of having the people transferred of the planet and doing so would kill them, but knowing Bart's friendship with the young girl named Shirley, she would have to find a way to make him see reason.

"Bart….the people here have had their immune system corrupted by the pollutants in the womb since conception all the way to the very day they were born. There are too many dangers in space travel already as it is, if we bring them with us in their current state….they will die."

"But can't you use the enhancements you used to make the Master Chief and the others the way they are?!"

"I can't….their bodies are too frail to survive the changes Bart and their genetic structure is too fragile already due to the damage their have suffered from the pollutants and the deliberate changes done by the Harvesters on their world, I'm sorry but there is nothing we can do for them or Shirley at this point."

"You can't mean that!!! Shirley is young….she's…"

"She's been weakened in the womb Bart…her immune system is too weak, plus the fact that….the food and water here are so badly contaminated, and those make her condition too vulnerable…if she leaves the ICU, she won't make it."

Bart wanted to deny if even more and he was trembling so hard that the Spartan was worried he might do something rash…

But Bart turned and walked away, he didn't say anything, but the Spartan could tell that Bart was in great turmoil over this. He couldn't blame the young man for his state of mind at all at the moment.

Duero and Catherine couldn't blame Bart either as he stormed off. There was no doubt in their minds that Bart was not give up in finding a way to save Shirley and the other people on this planet if he could, they couldn't blame him for his wish to do so, but they hoped he would not go too far in finding the answers.

They were right as Bart was then seen reading many books as he could to find a possible answer to saving his friend and her people, as the blonde cadet sought out a possible answer, he was unaware of the fact that the Spartan was looking at him.

--------

The situation for the engineering team was not easy as they went to work on using the data from the Paeksis to create the isolation chamber, one mother who was pregnant bravely volunteered to be the first test subject, it was a very big choice but she was willing to do that either way, the chamber was constructed and Paiway said that this was very risky, Duero and Catherine nodded at that assessment but it was the only option they had at the moment.

The Spartans had been chosen to handle the movement of materials for the construction of the chambers and then they were dedicated to surface security, but they decided to finally smash the authority of the Harvesters on this world as they took a number of C-12 Shaped Charge sachets and destroyed the facility that the people used to put their dead in to be picked up by the Harvesters. Though some of the people on the planet were shocked, they were still not going to challenge the Spartans, in fact they cheered the effort done by the Spartans and the project went underway.

It was at this point that another tragedy took place as Shirley shyly revealed a doll to Bart that was made to resemble him, but both laughed at the lack of hair, Shirley asked if Bart was offended by it and he replied that he was not though the lack of hair as bit surprising to him, she promised that she would finish the doll soon, however that was when a massive surge of pain struck Shirley and nearly crippled her, Bart was horrified and shouted for help, alerting both Catherine and Duero. The two rushed to aid Shirley as Bart looked on in horror at the sight of his friend in pain

At the same time, the Nirvana's scanners and the Clarion Spy Drones picked up a massive signal and the signal was that of the Harvester forces, apparently they had come to this world to collect the newly deceased bodies for their own experiments and collect the dying as well. The Harvesters were quickly surprised to see that the Nirvana and it's crew were in the area and quickly launched a counter attack to defeat them, amazingly the Harvesters had neglected to bring a ground occupation force or even Boarding Craft limiting their combat options to only Cube Fighters and Seed Ships.

However the pirates learned how devious the Harvesters were and took no chances as they fought back with the Dreads and Longsword fighter squadrons, however, the Nirvana itself was not able to bring it's full guns to bear into the fight, with Bart groundside and him being the only one who could move the Nirvana into a better firing angle, Cortana was unable to use the full might of her arsenals.

And with Hibiki still holding VanDread Jura's shield on the planet for the experiment and defense alongside Jura, there was no way for VanDread Meia and VanDread Dita to fight back and since there was not enough water on the planet's surface, there was no chance of a repeat of the trick Jura and Hibiki used back on the world of Anpathos.

The crew needed bart and sent word to the surface to get him up there, Bart refused to leave Shirley and no amount of force or words to could make him leave his friend, however, Catherine told him that if he didn't leave then they were all going to fail and the Harvesters would win. Shirley also spoke to Bart just as she was being wheeled into the operating room for treatment.

"They're coming for me Big brother…"

Bart knew just who she was talking about, there was no doubt in his mind that Shirley knew just who had come to her world.

Shirley cried and spoke despite the pain in her body.

"The monsters are here they're here to take me away from my family….like they took my mama and papa from me…"

"No…I won't let them take you Shirley."

"You….you won't let the monsters take me?"

Bart nodded seriously at this and Shirley smiled and spoke before Duero and Catherine wheeled her in.

"Thank you…I'll finish the doll when you come back Big Brother."

That was all Bart needed to hear as he turned and looked deadly serious and moved with the others to the waiting shuttle. John and the other Spartan IIs saw the change in Bart and they approved of it. It was not long before Hibiki and Jura dropped down a portion of the shield generated by their VanDread to allow the shuttle back to the Nirvana, Bart was not giving up and quickly wasted no time to confront the Harvester ship that was before him.

The Harvesters had apparently seen the deadly power of the Nirvana in terms of it's weapons and began to unleash a much higher amount of weapons fire to suppress the Nirvana as the weapons fire hit the shields as the remaining teams of engineers on the Nirvana

--------

Bart was not moved by the fire power and recalled his promise to Shirley to protect her from the monsters, the idea of these bastards taking Shirley's body and doing horrific experiments on her for their own benefit angered him to no end, he was not going to let his friend suffer that kind of fate!

"I don't care whatever kind on monstrous creation you bastards send out…"

Cortana wondered just what was going on with Bart at this moment, she needed something with a lot more punch in order to deal with this new Harvester container ship….apparently after the disaster on the surface of Anpathos, the Harvesters were not going to take any risks and had doubled the strength of the armor of their cargo vessels along with the internal and external integrity as well. It was taking a lot more firepower than usual to break through.

Hibiki and Jura couldn't separate as doing so would endanger the experiment below as well as expose the people to a Harvester ground invasion, she could use her MAC Cannons but there was a chance that it would not be entirely enough due to the heavier armor and the risk of the ship debris hitting the shields and breaking through.

Bart however was not deterred and focused his eyes on the Harvesters.

"I have a friend down there fighting for her life!"

Bart thought of Shirley fighting as best she could to live, he thought of the hard life she had to live because of the bastards who had done this butchery to this world and so many others, and how much the Harvesters had ruined lives for their own selfish survival and now they were here to take the lives of the people below and Shirley's as well!

"I made a promise when I came back here on this ship…and that promise was to save her from you monsters!"

It was then that the Paeksis reacted to Bart's words and suddenly several sections of the Nirvana suddenly opened up and sections of crystals were appearing on the now exposed sections of the Nirvana there were even two massive crystal spheres that were underneath the MAC Cannons of the Nirvana as the ship seemed to transform itself under Bart's courage to defend Shirley and her people from the Harvesters.

"And I intend to keep that promise!"

Bart then looked on as the targeting systems were all on the Harvesters and their mother ship as he shouted at them in defiance.

"GET OFF THIS PLANET!!!!!!"

The crystals on the ship broke free and revealed themselves to weapon banks, but unlike the UNSC weapons that Cortana used in defending the Nirvana, instead they were energy weapon banks and they were all glowing in sync with Bart taking a good look at the Harvester ship the weapon banks were unleashed by Bart in that moment in streams of plasma energy beams that were able to move away from the VanDread in combat and smash hard into the massive Harvester Ship and it's escorts, the weapons were powerful enough to literally gouge burning holes through the reinforced armor of the Harvester Ship.

Cortana was in awe at this and scanned the new weapons, finding them similar to the Covenant's Energy Projector weapons on their ships but these appeared to be self guided and highly accurate, she had no idea that these weapons even existed and guess that the Paeksis had something to do with this as it no doubt had access to UNSC combat data on Covenant ship based weapon systems. She however didn't mind the extra firepower as she quickly focused all her Archer Missiles and MAC rounds at the Harvester ship.

Explosions were everywhere as the combined assault of the UNSC weapons plus the newly added energy weapon systems of the Nirvana was enough to end the Harvesters once and for all.

--------

As the Nirvana ground crew looked on at the sight of a newborn child who was now shielded from the harsh environment around it, Catherine, Parfait, and Duero turned to see one of the elders of this world move to them despite the pain and sickness evident on his face. The literally dying old man spoke in a very soft and sick voice, yet his words were not offensive to the three of them.

"On behalf of my people….we thank you, from the bottom of our souls and hearts, we thank you. You have given us a fighting chance."

"It's not much as you can see….we tried our best to terra-form this world for you, but…"

The elderly man shook his head and replied.

"I understand that, but even so….the sound of a healthy baby crying is music to our ears, it shows us that there is still hope for the future and this once beautiful world can be beautiful and safe once more. It will take years and many of us will never see it, but at least our young generations will see it through."

The female ground team couldn't help but feel the need to cry at the truth of those words, the currently living will never see their world restored to it's past glory despite their best efforts, but with their help, the new generation would live to bring peace and hope back to this world which was once considered the world of the living dead. Gascogne couldn't help but smile while Parfait and her engineers burst into tears as well as Paiway, even Barnette shed a tear at this point.

Parfait was comforted by Duero while Catherine and Mendez looked on

--------

However….not everyone on the Nirvana's shared the triumph…

Bart had returned to give Shirley the good news that the harvesters were gone, but his happiness was shattered at the sight of Shirley's body covered by a blanket, he was horrified at this sight of his friend dead, he tried to have Duero, Paiway, and Catherine do something, but he was too late, there was nothing that they could do, with that, he took the doll that Shirley tried to finish in her last moments and left the room.

Bart was looking at the setting sun and he was trying his best to hold back his tears as he looked down in his hands to hold the doll that Shirley tried to make for him. This was the very first time he ever cried not out of fear or shock but of sadness and despair, he failed to save Shirley after all, he promised to her that he would never let the monsters take her away and he would make sure she would live….but for what? She died….

"Damn it!!!!"

Bart was so deep in grief that he was not aware of the heavy foot falls that told others that someone wearing heavy armor. The cadet then heard the Spartan speak, telling him that the one behind him was the Master Chief.

"You did the best you could Bart."

Bart turned and glared at the Master Chief, for the first time he finally cried out his tears before the Spartan and he shouted at the Spartan.

"I FAILED HER DAMN IT!!!! I TRIED TO SAVE HER!!! BUT SHE DIED EITHER WAY!!!"

"I know…but you did many things for her."

"Like what?! Lie to her?! Pretend to be this hero when I'm nothing but a damn coward and fool?! All I ever gave her were lies…"

The Spartan nodded at that and spoke.

"Maybe that's true, but you gave her many things that meant a lot to her."

"Like what?!"

"You made her smile."

Bart stopped his anger at that simple sentence as he thought about how Shirley would smile whenever he came to her room.

John saw that and he knew he had to keep on to get Bart out of the mess he was in.

"You made her laugh."

The memories of the laughter came back to Bart as he looked at the doll and then to the window where Shirley's room was.

"You gave her the one thing that mattered to someone like her….hope. And that is why you are a real hero and not a fool."

Bart kneeled down and held the doll close to his chest and then spoke to the Spartan who loomed over him, most men would have been intimidated by this but Bart was not, for the first time he looked at the Master Chief's golden visor and spoke seriously to the Master Chief.

"What should I do?"

The Spartan replied then.

"Honor the friendship between you to, do that, and she will never die or fade away."

"Will it…work?"

"You'll never know until you do it."

With that, the Master Chief offered his hand and the blonde navigator took it and hauled himself to his feet while still cradling the doll Shirley made of him.

--------

Days later…

"Man….what a day…"

Hibiki groaned as he walked towards his bunk in the Forward Unto Dawn and as soon as he was in there he sat down and moved his body, trying to make sure that he didn't have any stiff areas to worry about. As soon as he got the stiffness out of the way he decided to go get a hot shower so his body could relax.

It had been a number of days since the battle over the world that they had been to, it was hard to leave the people behind as so many of them would not survive to see the rebirth of their world and the renewal of hope in living, but the crew of the Nirvana took heart in the fact that their efforts were not in vain. Bart had also taken a turn of maturity, he took his duties as Navigator and energy weapons operator seriously, periodically taking the time to get himself reacquainted with the systems and even taking the time to learn under Cortana some key issues with the use of weapon systems and navigation.

Of course he also took his friendship with Shirley to a new level, shaving his hair until he was abld to replicate the unfinished doll made of him by his deceased friend, most of the crew would need time to get used to it, but the others didn't mind, even John approved of it to some degree. Magno herself was all right with the whole thing as well.

As for him, he decided to go and get a hot shower and headed in the direction of the main bathing area that had been set aside for use. The bathing area was similar to a shower but apparently was a lot larger and even had a series of bath tubes there, no doubt something the Paeksis had added. He sometimes used it and so did the Spartans on occasion. At the moment he was still trying to get used to what had happened before in the VanDread. He hoped that no one in the Nirvana would tell him about the incident, as he was not in the mood to replay the situation ever again. However the Tarak teen was going to be in for a surprise as he entered the bathing area and he was no longer wearing any clothes and wrapped himself in a towel.

He entered the room and headed into it until he heard something lock the door, the Tarak teen had a bad feeling about this and soon enough his feelings were correct as he realized that he was not alone.

He gasped as Jura appeared….and she was also…naked. The blonde grinned at him and spoke.

"Now that we're alone Hibiki, I can get your seed."

"H-H-How did you get in here?!"

"I followed your routine silly, now then before we were so rudely interrupted…"

It was then that Hibiki heard the door open and he felt that rescue had come, but that thought died as Misty appeared in the same room. Apparently the blue haired woman had been planning to ambush him as she spoke to Hibiki.

"My Prince….no we can….what are YOU doing here you old lady?!"

Jura glared at Misty as she was outraged at being called an old lady and replied.

"I'm getting Hibiki's seed, so leave the room now."

Misty blocked Jura's path to Hibiki and replied.

"No way am I going to let you take Hibiki's seed!"

"Oh, do you want his seed Misty?"

Misty quickly blushed and said nothing but then gathered her courage and spoke.

"it's not like that! That's going too far! But I am not going to…"

Another voice joined the scene as the door opened and in walked Dita who was carrying bathing supplies and a sponge, apparently she too had been observing Hibiki.

"Mr. Alien! I want to help you wash…"

Dita looked and saw Jura and Misty and she was not happy.

"WHAT ARE YOU ALL DOING HERE?!"

Hibiki was stunned and tried to escape, but he was shocked at all this and couldn't help but try and find some avenue of escape. However it seemed that there was no escape as he watched all three women begin to argue….over him, it also reached the point that both women were now buck naked and he found himself staring at Jura in the nude, along with Dita, as well as Misty. And in that situation, he did the one thing he managed to avoid doing when Ezra's baby was born.

He fainted.

"Ah! Mr. Alien!"

Dita tried to revive Hibiki from his loss of consciousness and then both Jura and Misty came along to revive Hibiki, that was then the door opened and in walked Kelly, devoid of her MJOLNIR and she was about to take a quick washing of her face and was fully dressed. The female Spartan raised an eyebrow and spoke.

"What the heck is going on here?"

--------

To be continued…

------

Author's notes:

Looks like things are taking a very interesting turn and I have taken a more mature look at the scene between Hibiki and Jura in the VanDread over the planet. It might seem familiar but you can bet the fallout of that incident is going to be felt all over the VanDread universe for a while. Don't worry about what else will happen with this as Jura might eventually be paired with someone apart from Hibiki.

On the next chapter is something that all of you readers might find very interesting as this will be something of a treat, enjoy it for it is going to be the icing on the cake for the rest of the story.

It seems Hibiki is now getting in touch with the primal male instincts that have been repressed ever since the founding of Tarak all those years ago. This is way different than the anime back then so expect things to get really hot and heavy at this point and time!!!


	5. Chapter 5

VanDread Halo The Second Stage

Disclaimer: I don't own VanDread-The Second Stage or Halo, they belong to their respective companies, Halo belongs to Bungie while VanDread The Second Stage belongs to GONZO, so let's just leave it at that all right?

Chapter 4

Negotiations

( ): Thoughts

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In the Nirvana…

The Nirvana was currently approaching an unknown station that was somewhat similar to the very space station they had been able to get to when they had first met Rabat, however, this one seems to be rather different in design and Magno identified it as a Outpost Mission, some sort of resting station as well as a trading center. As soon as they were able to get within communication range, they got greeted by a bald man with gloves and wearing black colored clothing as well as a belt carrying pouches, the man was built like a bear and he had the naturally had the attitude of one as well.

"Who the heck is this? I can't believe someone's still using that old Colony signal!"

Buzam was the Commander on the scene and decided to speak about their desire to trade. They had begun to run a bit low on some food supplies and needed to refill some of it, and they had plenty of things to trade, and judging by the initial scans of the station before them, they were going to have their hands full, and the bear of a man was quick to respond.

"You want to trade for supplies?! Hahahahahaha!!! I hate to break it to you ladies, but we're kind of short on that ourselves and we're not hotel either, so why don't you find someone else to barter with."

Buzam however was not phased and spoke.

"We only need some types of supplies while we have a considerable amount of materials to trade, as well as the expertise of our skilled engineers. They can be helpful in doing maintenance in your station as well as repairs."

"Really? What sort of supplies are we talking about here you're willing to trade lady?"

Buzam recalled the lists of materials that they had on hand, though they had expended a large amount of the pilfered resources from one of the Harvesters' resource worlds to create Parfait's Power Armor prototypes, they had plenty left over that were all of high quality and were worth trading, there were also stacks of spare parts, fuel, materials for making gun powder, a large supply of spare UNSC Weapons, equipment, and Body Armor, as well as Tarak weapons and munitions..

Buzam got out a data pad and imputed all the information and sent it to the man in question, the Commander then allowed the data to be transferred and as soon as the man got the data and looked at it, he gave a very shocked look and then he faced Buzam with a serious stare.

"That's QUITE an offer, how can we be sure that you're not lying to us?"

Buzam replied.

"The only way you will find out is if you let us onboard the station, I will talk to the leader then and see if we get a deal. So, is that offer of technical help as well as spare supplies enough to open negotiations?"

The bald man looked at the side, apparently getting orders from something outside of the monitor's visual range. After a minute or two the man faced Buzam and spoke.

"The rule here in Delta Six is eat or be eaten, if you don't care about what happens to you once you're on this station then feel free to come onboard."

With that done, the crew knew that they were going to be allowed onboard the station.

Cortana turned to face the crew and spoke in a very off hand manner.

"I get the feeling the guy hasn't had a bath in years. Maybe we should have him take a bath in the Megele fashion, I get the feeling that could work."

The women laughed a bit and even Buzam managed to chuckle as well as Magno did. As soon as the humor winded down, the Nirvana got to see the station in which they got the transmission, that was when the Spartan IIs walked in with John in tow as well as the Spartan IIIs, and Kelly was the first to comment on the appearance of the station.

"Now that is a dump."

The crew had to agree, the station looked like it was literally being held together by duct tape, chewing gum, super glue, and a LOT of prayers as well as curses, the station had been through hell and it could be seen as sections of the station appeared to have suffered heavy damage, some were breaking off, there was also signs of extreme structural failure and more besides, all in all, the station looks like it was on it's last legs and could fall apart at any minute.

Fred spoke.

"Got to give them credit to be living in that run down death trap, I'm surprised the central power core hasn't gone critical yet. No one would feel safe in that death trap."

Catherine walked in and she only needed a glance at the image to agree with Fred's assessment as she looked the station over, while she was no structural engineer due to her profession, her first glance at the image of the Delta Mission was more than enough to allow her to diagnose the exact extent of the station's damage.

"Several sections appear to have been breached, the discoloration markings on some of the rends and gashes suggest fire damage from internal fires or external exposure to high intensity energy, some areas appear to be sealed off to prevent vacuum, there also appears to be fairly recent carbon scoring, the defensive weapon systems of the station appear to be shoddy or badly damaged at best, and near useless at worst, their scanning systems also appear to have more blind spots than a dog has fleas, so whoever these people are, they seem to be already having enemies hitting them on something of a regular basis. This might make coming there a risk, there is a chance that the survivors might be suffering from shell shock and pent up frustration as well as rage, that will mean that the people there are very much on edge and it won't take much to provoke them."

Magno nodded at Catherine's assessment and spoke.

"I'd imagine that the situation would make the people in the Mission station rather hostile towards outsiders. Still, we don't have much in terms of choice at the moment, we need some extra supplies and we can trade off the stuff that we can afford to give away. Cortana is there any sign of Harvester activity?"

Cortana shook her head as she used her link to the Clarion Spy Drones which were currently out on a long range recon run, considering the sorry state of the Mission's scanners the last thing the Nirvana needed was being blindsided by the Harvesters.

"No sign of them yet Captain, I'll remain on the Nirvana on standby just in case we do encounter any Harvester forces."

"Good, Master Chief, I need you and your fellow Spartans to be part of the negotiation team, while I normally would only send a small team there to help out, it would be far better not to take chances."

"Yes Ma'am."

"One more thing Chief, the analysis of Dr. Catherine is right, for all we know, the people in the station might have hostile intentions, but do not use lethal force unless the situation calls for it, understood?"

"I do Ma'am."

Magno nodded and gave the order for a negotiation team to be assembled.

--------

As the Nirvana drifted in, Bart was currently working on getting the ship into dock, to be honest, this was a first for him to try docking into a station area as he had never done this before in his life, but there was always a first time for something. The now bald navigator listened to the incoming instructions and followed Buzam's orders for the docking procedures. Cortana was naturally willing to act as rear guard to the Nirvana as she continued to scan the place before them with the Clarion Spy Drones.

The Nirvana was not going to go and take unneeded risks at this moment and Cortana was not going to let what happened last time happen again, no one was going to get the drop on her while she was on watch duty.

--------

In the Shuttle Launching Bay…

Barnette took out a sack of her favorite rifles as well as a gun case as Jura and Parfait were on the scene, Jura never got around to figuring out just what was it about old fashioned projectile weapons that got Barnette's crack up, she always collected those weapons, cleaned them meticulously, and always treated them like precious items.

"Why are you carrying all that Barnette?"

Barnette smiled a bit at her blonde friend and answered the question.

"Hey, we're going to be in some close quarters fighting and if that happens, these will be worth using."

Buzam arrived just as the Spartans also came on the scene with their weapons already present for this excursion, Buzam then spoke that they were there on a diplomatic action and close combat was to be avoided at all costs, which disappointed Barnette as she was hoping to finally get her guns to be into the heat of things. It was then that one of the Spartans looked at her gun collection, and the Spartan in question was Fred.

Fred looked at one of the weapons and spoke.

"An old M60E4 Light Infantry Machine Gun, chambered with the 7.62x51mm NATO Rounds, developed in the early 21st century which is the same rounds used in our MA5C Assault Rifles, I haven't seen one of those in ages."

Barnette looked at the Spartan with some surprise as she had expected the Spartan not to care about such things. However, despite this being the first time she had revealed her gun collection, this Spartan was able to determine just what sort of weapon she used

"You know about this?"

Fred nodded and spoke as he looked at Barnette's gun collection.

"We took history classes in military history after all. I had thought with all the preferences to lasers on your world, you'd have the same thing."

Barnette however replied with a smug expression.

"I wanted to stand out a lot from the norm, besides; the situation will be close quarters fighting so no sense not having weapons made for this, even if we're not supposed to do any fighting if we can avoid it."

Fred nodded as the other Spartans were ready, the Spartan IIIs came in carrying a reserve supply pod that had the usual supplies and equipment, while the women thought it would be unnecessary, the Spartan IIs agreed with the younger Spartan IIIs, they had no idea what might happen in there so no sense not being ready for anything.

The pod had a large number MA5C ICWS Assault Rifles, BR55 HB SR Battle Rifles, M6G Magnums, M90A Shotguns, and a large number of M7 Caseless Sub Machine Guns, along with an extra stack of MA5K Carbines. They decided not to bring any Megele Laser Rifles as well as their Covenant based weapons in favor of stocking up and more of the Tarak Assault Rifles. There were also a good number of UNSC Medi-kits as well as a large amount of Frag Grenades. There were also Grenade Launcher attachments for the MA5C ICWS Assault Rifles.

The MA5C ICWS Assault Rifles could have their flashlight attachments removed and replaced with grenade launchers, making them fairly effective in dealing with light armor class vehicles and giving normal infantry forces a run for their money, the weapons however not to be used at the moment since there was no need for the Spartans to use them yet, and this was a diplomatic mission after all, the fact that it was a diplomatic mission also meant that the Spartans would not be armed with lethal rounds for their weapons and would need to carry non lethal rounds first, therefore in their weapons current load with the exception of the M6G Magnums, the Spartans were armed with Tactical Training Rounds or TTRs. These weapons were the 26th Century version of paint balls, but they were far more dangerous than regular paint balls.

Tactical Training rounds used a special plastic polymer shell to maintain their bullet profile and flight characteristics like normal paint balls would have, the TTR had an internal proximity fuse that was timed to melt the shell once it was at least 10 centimeters from contact, that allowed the red paint inside to splatter on the target just like a normal paint ball round. However the paint was mixed with a highly effective anesthetic and would immobilize the nano-fibers in clothing, rendering a person unable to move when hit by the round and also the tranquilizing effect on the body part, making the target unable to move for a few hours, and it could be used to subdue targets depending on where they are shot.

The Spartans hoped not to resort to shooting anyone on the Mission at this moment but they knew better than to take unneeded risks at this point and time.

Tom and the others placed down the pod and saluted the elder Spartans with the senior Spartan III wearing his SPI Mark II Armor speaking for his comrades.

"The pod's ready for loading Sir!"

Fred nodded and spoke.

"Good, load up the pod, I don't know if we have to use it just yet, but better be fully prepared for anything."

"Yes Sir!"

Tom and the other Spartan IIIs took the pod in as Buzam arrived while Hibiki came along, dressed in his full Marine Body Armor and carrying his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle. The Tarak teen then saluted the Spartans namely his mentor John. As soon as the Spartans responded to the salute, the Tarak teen explained just why he was there.

"I want to join the mission Chief, just in case extra support is needed."

John thought it over, while giving Hibiki more experience in dealing with other human cultures was considered a good idea, he was not in the mood to let Hibiki get caught into a situation which could be dangerous, the fact was that since he was the pilot of the Vanguard that formed the VanDreads also weighed on the Spartan, the VanDreads were very important for the defense of the Nirvana if they were dealing with very powerful Harvester forces and while there was no sign of the Harvesters as of yet since Cortana's Clarion Spy Drones had not seen them.

However, Hibiki wanted to come along for the ride and therefore John decided to let him get some training on how to deal with people who were similar to Rabat though not in the very same league as the traitor to the Human Race due to selling them all out to the Harvesters. However he was not going to let anything happen to Hibiki at this point as they still needed him out there should the Harvesters bring any heavy weapons into the battle field.

He then decided to charge Hibiki with Dita's safety as well as Jura's as the two were badly needed to be in the making of the VanDreads, Dita's VanDread was very much needed for sheer firepower and Jura's VanDread was custom made for defense and both were certainly needed if all things went down the drain the second the Harvesters showed up.

Hibiki was more than willing to follow the orders of the Spartan and with that out of the way, the team got into the shuttle and moved out while escorted by Dita's Dread. As the team was underway, Cortana and Bart were now ready to maintain their vigil over the station while the Nirvana Fire Teams were assigned for security detail in the Nirvana along with the Talvernian soldiers. They were needed to handle security for the Nirvana alongside the Security Teams to make sure that the Nirvana was not attacked from behind.

--------

In the Mission…

The men of Delta Six were making rude comments at the Megele women as Jura, Barnette, Dita and Buzam as the women moved through the station. Jura was not bothered by this and Barnette merely glared while Dita, being the young bubbly and cheerful young woman that she was at heart was not bothered by it all, Gascogne ignored it as well as she was straight to the situation before her and the others as well, though Parfait was not the least bit happy with the comments when they entered the area.

But their actions towards the women of Megele died a horrible death with the sounds of heavy boot prints and the Delta Six welcoming group were greeted by the sight of the Spartans, both the Spartan IIs and the Spartan IIIs who were in their SPI mark II Armor the super soldiers of the UNSC were joined by Hibiki who was dressed in his Marine Body Armor and carrying his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle on his hands. The young Tarak male looked at the people and didn't like the way they looked at the rest of the Nirvana team, but he knew that with the Spartans around, the idea of them attacking the Nirvana party was nil at the moment. No one here might have seen a Spartan before, but they were going to get a very clear cut answer if they tried something outright stupid.

The Spartans scanned the crowd and they were not impressed, considering the fact that the men and women were armed with weapons that were nigh useless on their MJOLNIR Power Armor then the Master Chief nodded to his reformed Blue Team as well as Team Saber and Team Katana, the Spartans nodded as they took out their weapons with skilled ease and readied them, Linda readied her BR55 HB SR Battle Rifle as she left her SRS99D S2 AM Sniper Rifle on her back, Kelly had her MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle while her M90A Shotgun was ready, Fred readied his own MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle as well as his BR55 HB SR Battle Rifle, Tom, Lucy and the other Spartan IIIs also readied their MA5K Carbines as the Master Chief led the team followed by the other Spartans with him leading the group.

Every so often the Spartans would scan the crowd and cradling their weapons in a very relaxed yet deadly and serious manner, sending the message to the people of Delta Six to keep their aggressions to themselves lest the Spartans would react with great force. John knew that he and his fellow Spartan IIs were more than a match for the people here since he and no doubt his brethren could wipe the floor with them, however, they came here in peaceful terms as the Spartans had activated the safety systems on their weapons. That could quickly change however and they were more than ready and able to fight back if it comes to that level.

Buzam was rather content with the presence of the Spartans in their party, the younger Spartan IIIs were more than able in a fight despite being very young and the veteran Spartan IIs were very convincing as they moved along with Parfait commenting on the massive repairs that they would have to do. The commander would have preferred a smaller team to handle negotiations on this mission but since the Master Chief was assigned as their combat specialist and his skills were quite good as well as that of his fellow Spartans, they would be needed just in case things got ugly for this mission, plus they would keep the people of the Delta Six from trying something stupid. She could see that these were desperate people though why she was not very sure just yet. But she knew that desperate people would commit very rash things when they were given the chance.

Barnette still carried her Glock 9 and was ready to use it when the time came, however, the presence of the Spartans and their own formidable weapons made her carrying her guns somewhat redundant but she was adamant to bringing weapons from her collection of old fire arms and since the Spartans didn't seem to mind in the very least if she brought them she decided to bring as much as she could afford to carry with her. She wanted to see the weapons of the UNSC in action for herself and also see just how the rest of the Spartans operated as a fighting unit. Seeing the Master Chief in combat was impressive enough, to see the others was something she was not going to pass up for anything.

Jura was along for the ride as she wanted to see this place for herself while Hibiki managed to keep Dita from making a scene as she wanted to take pictures of the place, while Hibiki knew that Dita was not harming anyone, he was not going to let the people of this place get the wrong impression and do something that could result in a fight, Pyoro looked at this and commented that Hibiki might be afraid of the people here, but the Tarak teen remained cool under pressure as even when a he saw a young girl sticking her tongue out at him, he relaxed and focused on the task at hand.

As they reached the rise, the same man who had talked to them earlier looked at them….and from the scowl he had on his face he was not happy with the appearance of the armored Spartans. The Spartans were also not happy at the moment though their emotions were hidden and so were their faces by their armored visors. The Master Chief glared at the bald man and sent the silent warning.

'If this is a trap, you're the first one I'm going to deal with.'

The man then spoke.

"This way."

As they made their way into the room, the party were quick to find themselves in something that resembled an arena of sorts. And then on the other end from a turned on light, they spotted a woman who wore a tight fitting body suit and had deep purple hair, and a figure most men would love to get their hands on, she was beautiful by most standards and certainly athletic, meaning that she no doubt must be of a very physically demanding background. The woman looked at them and decided to speak.

"So you are the people who decided to drop by Delta Six? What sort of reason do you have for coming this nick of the interstellar woods?"

Buzam spoke then to start the negotiations.

"We have already made the offer to your second in command so I do not understand why we have to repeat our offer."

"You don't need to, but I am curious as to why you come all the way here and I want to know where are you all from since you seem to be quite the varied bunch."

Buzam answered that, but kept in mind that telling the people that the Spartans were from earth was not a viable idea, there was a chance that if the truth about the Spartans being from Earth came out, then things were going to get very ugly.

"Many of us in the ship come from Megele, three men are from Tarak and the other are from Talvern, and the ones before you are from the planet Antareus."

Antareus was used as the cover name that would serve to be the Spartans' fictional home world and would make sure that the Spartans were going to be given a good level of secrecy so they would not be placed under suspicion, there was the chance that if the Spartans were revealed to be related to Earth then things would get ugly. While it was true that the Spartans were from earth, they were not related to Earth in the sense of being the Earth that this dimension had, no one else knew of the events that brought the Spartans here in this dimension and explaining something that no one would be able to confirm or believe was asking for too many headaches.

The woman swallowed the idea for now and then spoke.

"I see….all right then, I suppose that you all have been told by Patch that here on Delta Six we have the simple rule of eat or be eaten. So here's my proposal, you have quite the deal to offer, but if you want to get our help, you have to fight for it, is that all right with you?"

Buzam thought this over and decided that they were already this far so they would have to see the ending through.

"Fair enough, so who will you fight?"

"I will decide that soon enough and what is your name by the way."

"My name is Buzam A Calessa."

"Nice name, now mine is Liz and we'll keep it at that."

"All right Liz, so who exactly is it that you will be fighting?"

"Hold on, I want to speak to the leader of those armored guys with you."

Buzam looked at the Spartans and one in particular, while Fred did hold a much higher rank than John, John was still recognized as the overall leader of the Spartans and with that in mind, the Master Chief moved forward while placing his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle on his back with a clang, that sound was enough to make some of the people in the room move to reach for weapons but the woman shook her head and the people decided to lower their weapons under the command.

As soon as that was done the Spartan spoke to the woman.

"I am the leader."

Liz nodded and then spoke seriously.

"Would it be hard to ask if I get to see your face?"

The Spartan decided to agree for the moment and removed his helmet, getting some surprised reactions from the residents of Delta Six as they never saw anyone as pale as he was, The Spartan ignored those comments as he had heard them all before from the UNSC as well as the pirates when he was first among them all those months before. He then cradled his helmet under his arm and then looked at Liz to see what she was going to say.

Liz gave a smile and replied as she looked at the now revealed face of the Master Chief as the Spartan held his helmet in his hands while.

"Well now….you happen to be a rather handsome guy aren't you? A bit on the pale side though….tell me, how long have you been wearing that suit of yours?"

"Ever since I was eighteen, now that I did as you asked of me, have you made your decision?"

Liz smiled and stood up and pointed….at him.

"I want to fight you pretty boy."

John was emotionless when he needed to be but this was surprising him, of all the people he expected Liz to fight, he was expecting it to be either Gascogne, or Buzam but not him. He had no idea what she was up to but in his mind….no one would dare to fight a Spartan one on one. But since he agreed to the terms, he had to see this through, of course he would have to keep tabs on his attacks as well as his physical strength.

Hibiki was shocked, this Liz woman must had been out of her mind, of all the people she could pick to fight, she had to pick his mentor! Was this woman out of her mind?!

"She's got to be kidding?! She wants to fight the Chief?!"

The Spartan had no idea what was the point of it but decided to agree with it, if this was the only option available to them then he would do it, however he kept in mind that the people in Delta Six despite their hostility were not the real enemy and harming them was to happen only as a very desperate resort.

The Master Chief began to feel a sense of déjà vu, when he and the survivors of the Pillar of Autumn's crew along with his fellow Spartans, and other key UNSC personnel as well as Dr. Catherine were in the Gettysburg/Ascendant Justice, the lead officer Vice Admiral Danforth Whitcomb used the threat of the Covenant coming to fight in convincing the Eridanus Rebels in his old home system to repair the ship. That was a bloody fight and the Master Chief heard The Vice Admiral speak to the rebel Governor named Jacob Jiles when the Covenant came en masse.

"My duty is clear, to protect the men and women of Earth – not a pack of privateers and outlaws."

The Spartan however knew that while The Vice Admiral made a sound tactical decision to warn Earth of the coming Covenant Fleet and trading lives for time, it still saddened the Vice Admiral as he heard the man utter the words of regret as he had promised the Eridanus Rebels who helped them that he would give them amnesty, instead sent them to their deaths.

"This is not the Alamo and I am certainly not colonel William Barret Travis, though I dearly wish I were. No, we're running, we're trading hundreds of lives for millions. Hundreds for millions... Duty be damned….I am still going to rot in hell for this. Go Cortana, get us out of here. And God forgive me."

Danforth Whitcomb eventually gave his life along with ONI Lieutenant Elias Haverson, their deaths bought them time to warn Earth of the coming assault and the NOVA bomb no doubt going off destroyed almost all the ships of the Covenant Invasion Fleet which was 500 strong a death sentence to the human race in his dimension. Hopefully it would not come to that, the Harvesters were already causing too much destruction for them to waste their energies in fighting fellow humans.

"All right…"

Liz grinned, this was a chance to burn off some steam and this guy was going to be good entertainment, but since she needed to get him away from his gear, she decided to speak a bit more.

"But hold on, why don't we fight fair? How about you lose the weapons and the Armor you have on?"

The Spartan shrugged and decided to agree, and the people around the arena were smiling and laughing as well as shouting out for the fight to begin, they thought that Liz was doing the right move be having the guy before them stripped of his Armor and weapons. The Spartan moved to a nearby cubicle and removed his MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor as well as his weapons and he was now wearing standard UNSC military clothes and was now before the people and Liz who had apparently moved to the floor of the arena armed with some sort of handle which she revealed to be some sort of energy sword, though not in the same caliber as that of the Energy Sword used by the Covenant.

The Spartan was not that worried, his training in CQC, Martial Arts, and armed melee combat might not be in the same league as Fred and Li, but he was more than able to hold his own as Liz got ready to attack.

Liz wondered just how good this guy was without his gear and weapons and she was eager to find out, the stress was getting to her and she needed a release from the stress as well as give the people a good show to see. However she had no idea that the guy she decided to pick a fight with was one of the UNSC's best Super Soldiers.

Fred, Linda, and Kelly looked on with the other Spartans, while the rest of the Nirvana crew looked on at the soon to come fight before them. Hibiki had no idea what was going to be the outcome of this fight, but he knew for a fact that it was not going to be in the way these people hoped it would be.

--------

In the ring…

The woman attacked the Master Chief but the Spartan moved in a cool and efficient manner and avoided her attacks, he had to admit that this was the first time he would be fighting without any of his gear, but that hardly bothered the Master Chief as he had been trained at Reach to be strong in body and in mind thanks to Chief Mendez, plus the woman was already showing that she was not very skilled with that sword as he moved easily and evaded the attacks, keeping himself calm and focused, which was not very hard for someone of his training and experience to do.

Liz was getting angry, she had expected this to be simpler now that the guy had no weapons and armor, but it seemed that she was wrong as this guy was moving to fast and too quickly to be a regular person. She tried all manner of attacks and the Spartan continued to dodge and weave through her attacks and she was getting annoyed.

However she didn't have to wait long as the Spartan dodged another attack and threw a light punch at her. The Spartan had toned down the power of his punch to avoid a life threatening blow, but while the blow was not enough to outright kill someone, it was more tha enough to stop Liz in her tracks and make her back away from the Spartan she could only stand for a second before falling to her knees in pain.

Liz gasped in pain as the punch that slammed into her stomach sent pain all over her body, the blow was enough to make her stagger back and clutch her stomach in pain at just how hard the Spartan could hit. She felt the urge to throw up and when she spat out something in her mouth…it turned out to be blood.

She looked at the Master Chief as John-117 merely stood there and he spoke.

"For the record Liz….the Elites have better sword skills than you."

(What the hell?! This guy punches like he's got titanium for bones?! I've never been hit that hard before!)

Patch and the others in the audience were shocked at the sight before them, Liz's second in command tried to use the hidden panels to stop the Spartan and give Liz an opening, but the Master Chief stopped from colliding with the panel and then he merely punched the panel and literally ripped it clean off the floor and it was sent flying and landed in a loud heap.

Liz got up and her once smug look was replaced by fear as the Spartan merely moved his hand away, totally unfazed by the fact that he had just ripped a solid metal plate clean off the floor. She had thought that by forcing the Spartan to leave his weapons as well as remove his MJOLNIR Power Armor, she would have a chance, but now it seemed that things were now in the favor of the Spartan. It was then that Hibiki decided to speak.

"Hey lady…"

Liz turned and faced the young man as John's protégé gave her a very smug look.

"You know….of all the guys you picked a fight with, the Master Chief's the worst kind. If he wanted to, he could break every bone in your body into powder with his bare hands without the MJOLNIR. Hate to say it….but you have picked the WRONG person to piss off."

The Spartan then reached behind him and revealed his support weapon, the people of the Delta Six Mission gasped as the Spartan ignited his Energy Sword and spoke to Liz with the weapon aimed right at her.

"If you want to have some entertainment Liz, then try and get it."

Patch was about to make a move once more when all of a sudden, he found himself facing Kelly who rushed to his direction and she was armed with a Combat Knife to his throat, the fastest of the Spartans proved her nickname as 'Rabbit' once more, she had spotted the move and rushed there before any of the residents of the mission could stop her.

Patch gulped as despite being tall for his age, the female Spartan was taller that he was and she was already pressing her Combat Knife to a very vulnerable area that had his ceratoid artery, one wrong move and the Spartan could slit his throat and kill him, and with her level of strength, she could easily tear his head off if she wanted to, Kelly spoke to him in a very serious tone.

"Don't you dare try that again….or I'll tear you apart so fast you would think you were in a blender."

The others tried to move to attacking Kelly, but they were quickly greeted by the weapons of the Spartan IIs and the Spartan IIIs.

Liz could see that this was turning bad and as much as she hated to do it she had no choice but to surrender. With that on hand, the Spartan deactivated his Energy Sword and then placing the weapon aside. It seemed that negotiations were going to go on after all. But she had to admit, this guy was good….very good. The Spartan then offered his hand to her and she accepted it, and she noted the firmness of his grip as well.

--------

In the bar…

Liz sighed as she drank her whisky as she looked at the Spartan who was now back in his full armor and looking at the bar. She had to admit that seeing him back in his MJOLNIR was something of a disappointment, she kind of liked the way he looked, his pale skin notwithstanding. At the moment, she had recovered from the beating she got and had to admit that fighting this guy was certainly something she had no idea about. She then decided to have something of a conversation with the Spartan.

"So, what's your name?"

"Excuse me?"

"You do have a name right? I certainly can't just be calling Chief or Master Chief all the time, I don't know you that well."

John thought about it and decided to just give his codename, rank and serial number, that was normal procedure and he was not going to reveal that much classified information anyway, he might have loosened up a bit, but that certainly didn't mean he was going to blatantly ignore military protocol.

"United Nations Space Command navy, Master Chief Petty Officer Sierra-117."

Liz couldn't help but feel a sweat drop coming on her head and realized that maybe it was better for her to just stick with calling him Master Chief or just Chief, it would be a lot better that way and was not so straining on her mind.

"I guess you're a hardcore military guy, so asking your real name's out of the question, all right Chief, mind if I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead."

"All right….what exactly are you, I saw the way you fought you know and the way you moved, not to mention I saw you rip apart a single sheet of metal plate it was nothing but a wooden board with a fist, you are not completely human are?"

"No, I was enhanced with genetics enhancement as well as cybernetic implants."

"Okay then, so how did you get mixed up with the women of Megele anyway? As far as I know, women from that world aren't exactly friendly towards men."

"It's a long story. How did you wind up as leader of this Mission Station?"

Liz sighed and replied.

"I wasn't voted and I didn't fight others for this position either. I took it because there was no other way, the people here needed something to give them some measure of hope no matter how stupid that might be to some people. Anyway, I have to admit that the deal you guys give is very tempting, so I agreed, if the food supplies you can give us will help make sure that we survive a lot longer, and the spare parts will be welcome too, is there anything else that can be offered from you guys?"

"Why ask me? You should have asked the Commander for that?"

"Just thought I'd ask."

The Spartan thought it over and recalled the large stocks of Tarak nutrient pills that were still in the supply section of the Nirvana, there was at least enough pills to last a full three to six years, no doubt this was possible due to the original purpose of the Nirvana when it was retrofitted by the men of Tarak to be their fleet's flagship. The pills were currently still in storage and were very much worthy of consumption, none of the women from Megele liked the pills, and the same could be said for everyone else even though Bart still preferred those and Duero still trusted them. However, despite his own preference for normal food, the Spartan was raised to be practical in mindset and he had already analyzed the value of the food pills.

On one hand, they were very easy to manufacture and required almost no effort to prepare saving on resources, time, and materials, they were easy to store in any container and were able to remain fresh and usable for years. They were able to be also able to be mass produced in large quantities, and while they lacked the taste of real food, they were very much able to provide all the needed vitamins, minerals, nutrients, calories, carbohydrates and more to the person without the mess and fuss of being made in a kitchen. The other fact was that they were filling and could provide enough energy for many hours of work, they were quick to digest and were non fattening. The last observation was a slight oversight on his part, but it was a truth that was evident.

The pills would certainly be more than welcome despite the lack of taste and while Bart might not like it, the trade seemed to be a very good idea on his part.

"We do have another supply we can get rid of."

"That being?"

"Tarak manufactured food pills, the Nirvana had crates worth of them, you can have them if you want it."

Liz was immediately interested and made that obvious with her next question.

"Just what sort of food items are these?"

The Spartan explained what they were and also how much they had on hand and Liz surprised him by agreeing stating that while the stuff might taste bad, they could get used to it and the energy given by the pills would certainly help keep them going for as long as they needed to be going, every little bit could help their people in the long run and that was all that mattered to Liz. The Spartan agreed with that and decided to call in the request to Buzam and Magno, and he would wait for the reply.

He then scanned the people in the bar and the spotted someone that he quickly recognized and that was when the Spartan tensed up and quickly moved into action. This person was very much in need of his attention.

Liz wondered what was going on as the Spartan suddenly made his way to the direction of a certain table.

--------

The person the Spartan recognized was none other than Rabat himself, the mercenary traitor to the human race was currently drinking some brandy when he heard heavy foot falls that he suddenly recognized as the foot falls of someone in heavy armor and he only knew of one person who had that kind of armor on.

He looked and did an impressive spit take in that instant as he recognized the Spartan.

"PPPPPHHHHHHHFFFFFF!!!"

Rabat had no idea that the new ship he had heard docking with Delta Six was actually the Nirvana and had he known that before then he would have vacated the premises but now it seemed that fate had other ideas for him, he reached for his pistol and shouted out a curse the massive man who was already making his way towards him.

"YOU DAMN FREAK!!!"

The trader and Harvester spy had no time to react when the Spartan quickly rushed in at super human speed and pushed up his arm as he was getting ready to aim the pistol at him, the Spartan then tightened his grip and Rabat heard the sound of his bones cracking under the superior strength of the Spartan and he shouted in pain as he was forced to drop the weapon he had prepared and then he was hit by a fist in the stomach.

He fell to the ground with a loud moan and the Spartan looked Rabat with absolute contempt and disgust though that was hidden away by the MJOLNIR Mark VI and his visor and the Spartan looked at Rabat and then placed his foot on Rabat's chest and spoke seriously.

"So we meet again traitor, came here to finish what you and your clients started?"

The people in the bar were shocked by the events before them but the Spartan was not concerned with their thoughts as he looked at the traitor of the whole human race before him and he spoke once more in a much more serious and deadly tone to the man before him.

"Did you come here to see how many other people you can sell off to the Harvesters for your greed? Knowing you, the answer is yes you traitorous bastard, and now I have an answer to that."

Rabat barely had time to curse the Spartan as John-117 without hesitation, took out his M6G Magnum from his hip and spoke in the same tone that he had used towards the mercenary spy when they first met back in the Mission Station months before as he aimed the gun at Rabat's forehead.

"Rabat….by the laws of the UNSCDF and the UEG, I hereby find you guilty of high treason, you sold out the human race to the Harvesters for money and for your own personal safety, your actions have resulted in destroyed worlds, still unaccounted dead, and now the fact that the people of this Mission have lost their homes, loved ones, and more besides because of your actions in working for the Harvesters, for that there is only one punishment…death."

With the sight of the Spartan taking out his Magnum before him as well as the fact that he was feeling even more helpless as his body was in agony, the con man and spy of the Harvesters realized that he was about to die, and in that moment, he fell deeply into fear and spoke out.

"No! Don't do it!!! I'm sorry!!! I'll give you all the data I have…. just don't kill me!!!"

The Spartan however was unmoved, he had made a promise to kill Rabat and he was going to carry it out without hesitation or mercy, he had killed humans before and while he disliked spilling human blood before and during the UNSC-Covenant War, he knew the order of killing traitors to the UNSC and the Human race in general was right, the idea of letting people who betrayed their race live was wrong. And the scope of Rabat's crimes told him that death was the only course.

"I don't think so Rabat….I promised you once that if you and I ever meet, I would kill you, and you know something Rabat? When I make a promise…"

"NO!!!!!"

BANG!!!!!

Rabat had no time to say anything else as the roar of the UNSC side arm was heard in the bar, the mercenary had only a micro-second to feel the impact of the M6G Magnum round as his body stiffened up as the round tore easily through skin and bone right through brain matter. The con man knew that he was dead in that moment as he lay on the floor, but that was not over as the M6G's 12.7x40mm M225 Semi-Armor-Piercing High-Explosive Round, or the SAPHE in shorter terms, exploded as the inner explosive core in the bullet was ignited by the built in delay action fuse, this type of round was considered lethal and crippling, depending on where it hit, and the head was the worst of it.

The sound that resembled that of a melon hitting the ground at high speed was heard as Rabat's head was blown apart….leaving his body decapitated by the explosive round. The Spartan then spoke with absolute finality.

"I keep it, you will never sell out another world and it's people ever again traitor."

Liz looked in horror at the sight of Rabat's head and took out her side arm and aimed it at the Spartan as she and the others in the bar grabbed their weapons, they were shocked by this and were ready to fight though there was no doubt that the Master Chief could easily kill them if he wanted to. The leader of the Delta Mission shouted at the Spartan in shock and anger.

"Why did you kill Rabat?!"

The Spartan placed his M6G Magnum down and replied.

"Because he was a traitor, it was he who helped the Harvesters begin their genocidal campaign on humanity. He betrayed fellow humans and left them to the inhuman actions of the Harvesters, it was he who told the Harvesters of your worlds."

"What?!"

"We gathered a great deal of evidence that Rabat is responsible for the successes of the Harvesters as he is their spy, if you want proof, then you will have it. But if he was here, then he will have no doubt brought the Harvesters along to finish the job."

Liz spun at the turn of events, she had just witnessed Rabat, who was something of a suitor executed by the armored Spartan and accused of being a traitor to the whole human race, she wanted answers for this action.

"What's going on here?!"

The Spartan however then spoke through the comm..link system. He knew for a fact that if Rabat was here, then there was no doubt that the Harvesters were not going to be far behind.

--------

In the Nirvana's Command Bridge…

Magno was shocked by the news the very second the Spartan Commander spoke to them all in the bridge.

"What?! Rabat is onboard?!"

The Spartan nodded as he was on the view screen of the Nirvana, the rest of the bridge crew were not the least bit happy at the news of the con man and Harvester spy being there yet again to make life miserable for them all.

"Yes Ma'am, if he is here then the Harvesters will not be far behind, I suggest the Nirvana's Dread Squadrons get ready as well as the Fire Teams, we can expect company soon."

Magno then knew that if Rabat was around then the Harvesters were coming this way soon enough, she gave the order for all the Nirvana's forces to get ready, she then looked at the Spartan seriously as she knew that if the Master Chief had met Rabat, there would be a mess, and she had been there at the time that Rabat fought the Master Chief and what the Master Chief promised Rabat if they were to meet once more.

"Master Chief….what of Rabat?"

The Spartan merely replied.

"He's been dealt with Captain."

The Captain sighed and knew just what that meant, the Spartan had killed Rabat, the idea of humans killing each other was not new to the elderly woman as she knew history to be filled with conflict between humans, she never liked it and that was why her crew had never killed any men from Tarak unless it was unavoidable, they had avoided that for some time now, but this was unexpected and it shocked the elderly woman that a human life was taken by another. It still sickened her to think of humans killing one another, but she knew that considering Rabat's crimes, it was something that would happen soon enough.

"I see…I might not like the idea of you doing what you did, but as much as I hate to admit it, that man had it coming. I want you to be ready for the arrival of the Harvesters Master Chief, defend that station until they were annihilated."

"Understood Captain, we need to have the data we got of Rabat's activities and his crimes so we can prove his alliance with the Harvesters to the people here."

"Understood."

--------

Later…

Liz felt her stomach lurch at the information she was reading at this moment, all the files that the Nirvana's crew have gathered, as well as reports from Rabat's own NAV Com were revealed to her, Utan had been heartbroken and had tried to avenge her dead master, but the Master Chief was unimpressed, the orangutan's attacks on the Spartan's Paeksis enhanced MJOLNIR Mark VI was as effective as it was to use a tooth pick to scratch a steel wall.

The Spartan however didn't kill the orangutan but knocked it unconscious and decided to show some mercy to the animal as it cried it's heart out on the body of her fallen master before attacking him, he struck with a light blow to knock the orangutan aside and place it into the grip of unconsciousness. The Spartan placed the now unconscious orangutan into a set of highly effective restraints and had the animal sent back to the Nirvana, namely to the Forward Unto Dawn's cryogenic bay, he would condition a cryo-tube to suit Utan's biology and when they found a suitable world, they would drop her off there. It would be hard for something as domesticated to return to the wild, but the Spartan believed it to be the right course, and besides, there was also the chance that they could find a new master for Utan.

As the orangutan was taken away under the watchful eye of the Spartan IIIs, the Master Chief along with his fellow Spartan IIs decided to arm the people of the station, The Spartan IIIs quickly high tailed it back to the Shuttle and took out the crates that had the spare UNSC and Tarak weapons.

Liz looked at the Nirvana party and spoke.

"I…I….can't believe it, Rabat sold us out to the Harvesters?"

Buzam nodded she had been shocked by the sight of the trader having his brains blown out by the Spartan but knew that it was bound to happen, if others had found out about Rabat's activities, they would have killed him, and with him out f the way, there would be no other worlds that were going to be attacked.

"We had a hard time digesting the information ourselves when we first found it, but it is true….Rabat betrayed the human race to the Harvesters and he is no doubt responsible for all the people here in Delta Six, including you and your fellow survivor Patch, for losing everything, he's gone now."

Hibiki then spoke.

"That still doesn't mean it's over, Rabat must have contacted the Harvesters and it won't be long before they get here, what kind of weapons do your people have?"

Gascogne nodded.

"Hibiki's got a point, what kind of weapons do you have on this station?"

Liz shook her head.

"Not much, some personnel weapons and a few hand guns, we mostly use what we can find, the shielding on the station is pathetic, the armor plating is about to fail or is failing, and our sensors are completely worthless. In fact, the only reason we haven't been overrun was the fact that we do everything to minimize the power output of the reactor to make it look like this station's nothing but a wreck."

Buzam could understand just what sort of life these people led, hiding from the Harvesters and holding to their sanity as well as their lives. Now that the Harvesters were coming, they needed something to give them the will to fight. She decided to get things going as she faced the Spartans and the others.

"We need to get things underway if we are to beat the Harvesters here and now! Hibiki!"

Hibiki looked at Buzam seriously as she gave him his orders.

"I need you and Dita to head back to your respective machines and got out there to support our forces ASAP!"

Hibiki nodded and replied.

"Count on it."

Buzam then faced the Spartans as well as Barnette, Jura, and Gascogne.

"Barnette, Jura, Parfait, Gascogne, and I will work with the Spartans to evacuate the people of Delta Six to the safest place on the station, once they were all there, we need to set up defensive positions to hold off the Harvester advance. Chief, it's your call."

The Spartan thought it over and knew that the best chance they had was to get the people in a very centralized location they were spread too thin and had to be in one place which was defensible from counter attack, there was no doubt in his mind that the Harvesters would find ways to attack them. He turned to Patch as well as Liz and spoke seriously.

"Where is the safest and easily defensible location in this entire station?"

Liz replied.

"The best place is the Central Control Room, it's one of the few areas of Delta Six that is still relatively intact and harder to get into."

The Spartan nodded at that, the central control room would be a logical choice for a safe location, however, it would also mean that the Harvesters would know their location and converge on them, it was risky, but they would have to stay there, not only would it give them the best chance to defend the people of the Mission, as well as make sure that they were going to eliminate the Harvesters in one place than go about the station chasing them. However, he decided to get the people who could fight into this situation.

"Patch, how many of your people here know how to fire a gun?"

The hulking man found himself being stared at by the Spartan and the sight of his own visage looking back at him through the visor of the Spartan's helmet. He pulled himself together and answered the Spartan's question.

"Most of us know how to hold a gun but with ammunition supplies very low, we don't get a lot of chances to train."

The Spartan thought as much and looked at the pod, he quickly thumbed a special UNSC override code and soon the pod opened to reveal it's cargo, much to Liz and Patch's surprise as the Spartan turned to them.

"You're about to get your chance, have the women and children brought into the central control center and have several teams act as rear security guards. The rest of you form up into teams and follow our lead."

Patch wasn't much of a military guy, heck he disliked the military back in his days on his world, but there was no doubt in his mind that arguing with a near seven foot tall super human wearing a powered assault armor that was terrifying to look at and carrying the meanest rifle he had ever seen in his life was not the healthiest of ideas. With that in mind, the bald muscle bound man called all the men who were available and they were then armed with Liz getting her Flame Thrower, an old fashioned style weapon yet effective. As soon as weapons and ammunition were distributed to the people the Master Chief began to order the forces into an even distribution.

Fred was assigned several of the men of Delta Six while the same was done with Kelly and Linda while the Spartan IIIs were also divided evenly to space things out and as soon as the evacuation was underway, they got an incoming communiqué from Cortana that the Harvesters had finally arrived, only this time, it seemed that they were coming out in force this time.

Hibiki and Dita made their way to their respective machines as they knew that they were needed to support the rest of the forces outside, and as they made their way to their machines, it was not long before the Harvesters showed up to cause mayhem on the Delta Six Mission. However, the Nirvana and it's crew were more than ready to greet them as the Dreads and Longswords take to the battle in formation.

--------

The battle in the Delta Six Station was already well under way as several Boarding Craft came out of nowhere using their stealth systems to deposit their cargo, however, the Harvester Shock Troopers were now escorted by what appeared to be floating blobs of light, these strange entities appeared to be clouds of nano-machines that were able to open doors and override control systems through touch and then hacking into the system. These creatures also seemed to be able to refract laser based attacks, Jura found this out the hard way as she attempted to use a trio of Laser Rings to fight off the first batch.

However it was later discovered that while the blobs had the ability to refract laser or energy based weapons, they were not meant to handle physical attacks or solid kinetic rounds as Barnette's antique gun collection proved their effectiveness in combat alongside the projectile weaponry of the Spartans. The Spartans decided not to use grenades or the grenade launchers for the MA5C ICWS Assault Rifles due to the danger of compromising the already damaged super structure of the Delta Six Mission Station. But even without the use of the grenades, the Spartans were already beating the living daylights out of the harvester forces that were closing in.

The Master Chief then contacted Hibiki in hoping that the young Tarak teen and Dita would make it back to their machines and that they were safe from attack.

"Hibiki! How far are you from your Vanguard?"

The COM crackled and in came Hibiki's voice.

"We're almost there, I've escorted Dita to reach her Dread and I'm already boarding my Vanguard."

"Good, we need to get the Harvesters away from the Mission! Focus on wiping them out with close range attack and don't use the VanDread's main guns at this range!"

"Understood Master Chief!"

It was not long before both Hibiki and Dita were away from the station and into the depths of space as energy trails, missile trails and more were all over the place. The area of space was littered with ruined husks of Cube Fighters and several husks of Longswords, thankfully the Dread pilots were able to avoid getting shot down as they knew that without Gascogne to fly the Dreki for a rescue and retrieval mission they could ill afford to be shot down. The Cube Fighters could very well capture them and take them to their ships which was the last thing any of them wanted.

The arrival of the VanDread formed by Dita and Hibiki was a welcome sight and the two wasted no time in engaging the Harvesters in deep space, Hibiki however kept in mind that using the VanDread's main guns was out of the question due to the proximity

--------

In the Bridge…

"This is Meia to Cortana, we need fire support bad, can you fire a barrage of weapons fire on the Harvesters? We need fire support fast, without Gascogne to fly the Dreki, there's no way for use to refuel, rearm, and fight back!"

Cortana shook her head while she was still in the holo-tank.

"Negative, the blast waves could very well hit the Mission, the Harvesters are too close to it for me to get any accurate firing solutions."

"Understood! Bart! Can you use the Nirvana's plasma weapon systems to take them out?"

Bart shook his head at Meia's request.

"No way, even if I can guide the beams away from you and the others, there's still a chance I can hit the station. Cortana is right on this one Meia! You and the other Dread pilots need to get them away from the station for me and Cortana to have a full blown chances of wiping them out without endangering the people in the Mission."

Meia had to agree with Bart and Cortana's decision and quickly ordered the Dreads to do their best to try and lure the Harvesters away from the station to give Bart and Cortana a better chance at dealing with the Harvesters, the force before them at the moment was a massive number of Cube Fighters, and several teams Seed Ships. With Gascogne there in the Delta Six Station, there was no way for the Dreads to rearm and therefore they would have to ration their shots as best they could with the situation before them . The Longswords however had no problem with the situation as they unleashed their firepower on the Harvester forces before them as the Nirvana moved a bit more to get the right firing angle as well as wait for the signal to take out the Harvesters once delta Six was clear of the firing zone.

Cortana quickly spoke to John as she tapped into his MJOLNIR Mark VI' COM system.

"Chief! What's the status in there?"

--------

Inside the Delta Six Mission the battle was still ongoing and this time, Jura was currently armed with a much different set of weapons and that included an old fashion MP5 Submachine Gun handed to her by Barnette while Buzam had placed aside her whip and reserved it for close combat engagements and was currently wielding an old fashion Ak-47 Kalashnikov Assault Rifle while Gascogne who had already secured the people who were not fit to fight, was fighting alongside them with an Ma5C ICWS Assault Rifle. The Spartan IIs were also going their best with Tom and Lucy coordinating the defensive situation. The men of Delta Six might not like the idea of being under the command of the Spartans but the sight of how the Spartans fought told them that picking a bone with any of them, even the younger ones was a very dangerous idea.

Along with the Spartan IIs and Spartan IIIs the only Spartan I was there as well, Franklin Mendez was in his basic Marine Body Armor and wielding a Br55 HB SR Battle Rifle and despite looking a lot older than most, the men of the Delta Six Mission could see just how deadly this man was as he cut down threat after threat before him.

The Master Chief drained the magazine of his own MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle and spoke as he loaded a fresh magazine into his weapon.

"We're getting rather cramped in here Cortana but we're holding the fort! How many Boarding Craft are still out there?"

"At least four more and they disgorged their units!"

"Great. We'll hold the line here."

As the battle began to turn to the favor of the pirates as the Dreads finally forced away the Harvesters from Delta Six, the Spartans began leading a section by section counter attack with the men of Delta Six and there were blobs of plasma like energy all over the place as the nano-machines were splattered while the bodies of the Harvester Shock Troopers were all over the place.

As soon as the news was reached that Hibiki, Dita, Cortana, Bart, and the other Dread pilots had defeated the space borne forces of the, the people in the Delta Six station were happy that the Harvesters were driven back and now came the hard task of cleaning up the mess and of course, they would have to help the people of Delta Six be more capable in defending themselves in combat.

--------

Weeks later…

It had taken some time to clean up the remains of the Harvester forces that attempted to finally end Delta Six. The Harvesters had no idea the Nirvana would be on site and thus had only brought a small team of boarding craft with Harvester Shock Troopers available, they only used the floating blob like entities for their main assault. With those annihilated piece meal by the Spartans and the now better armed residents, the work in repairing and retrofitting the station began.

The Master Chief and the rest of the Spartans brought in a large number of crates containing UNSC issue weapons, munitions, armor, and supplies while Franklin Mendez handled the training of a basic soldier's contingent of the Delta Six's population, while some of the people tried to stand up to the senior Spartan I, they were quickly reminded that this old man was not to be messed around with. The trainer of the Spartans as well as a decorated UNSC Marine officer was going to whip them into shape no matter how much time he did or didn't have.

The Spartans were also aiding their trainer in teaching the men and women volunteers of the Delta Six Mission on how to train themselves better and since they were working on this task, the people began to ease their wariness of the Spartans.

Parfait and her crew were already out in their space suits working on repairing the Station as well as adding new features into the station to help them. They worked in improving the shielding systems of the Station to give it a stronger line of defense in case of attack by the Harvesters, along with this was repairing and retrofitting the scanner systems of the station in order to give the station some extra measure of protection and stronger sensory systems. The alloy armor was now being replaced by Titanium A- Armor Plating that Cortana had been able to manufacture and send out to seal the many torn up sections of the station, that and the ablative coating certainly helped in making sure that the station was now more than able to handle a sudden attack. The scanning abilities of the Delta Six Mission Station was upgraded by a small wing of Clarion Spy Drones that were able to maintain recon sweeps hundreds of light years ahead of the normal sensor systems of the Mission, this gave the people of the Mission a deadly edge on first response.

The defenses underwent a major overhaul as well in order to increase the station's survival, the Nirvana's crew began to install a number of 50 mm Point Defense Guns to counter Harvester Boarding Craft as well as Cube Fighters, as well several other deadly weapons such as the 110mm Rotary Guns which were used by the Longswords. The Nirvana crew also added a set of GUA-23/AW/Linkless Feed Auto Cannons, these were used in Vulture Gunships as well as the Hawk VTOL units, The crew also installed backs of Weapon/Anti-Vehicle Model 6 Grindell/Galilean Nonlinear Rifles or Spartan LASERS which were modified to take power from the Power Core of the Delta Six Station. And to complete the Point Defense Guns for the station a number of X23 NNEMP Cannon turrets, the EMP shots would scramble smaller threats and allow the rest of the forces of Delta Six to launch a massive counter attack.

The Nirvana crew had been able to make several modified 1200 High-velocity Gun Turrets, these were normally the weapons used by the Grizzly Tanks that they had on storage at the moment. The turrets were placed in regular intervals around the Delta Six station's structure and were powered by their own fusion power cells and were automatically controlled by several fire control stations which were installed by Dr. Catherine who created a special computer control system that was based on using a 'dumb' AI.

As being the head of the Spartan II Program as well as the head of the MJOLNIR Armor Projects as well as the developer of all new generation UNSC 'Smart' AIs, Catherine had no problem creating AI programs. There were two UNSC AI classifications, the 'Smart' AIs which Cortana formerly belonged to, as well as 'Dumb' AIs.

The 'Smart' AIs were created from flash cloned human brains in the same way Cortana was based from Catherine herself. While this gave them amazing learning curves, creativity, and storage capacity, it did limit them in the sense that they were only able to remain functional for seven years, once that happens, they would think themselves literally to death, another danger was Rampancy and that was something most UNSC personnel wanted to avoid as Rampant AIs were a danger to all. Thus they were either terminated or deleted before they reached that level.

The 'Dumb' AIs however had no ability to learn outside of their established operational parameters, while this limited them in the art of being creative, this limitation detached them from the risks of Rampancy, and grants them unlimited operation time. This meant that while they were perfect in their areas of expertise, they were not able to adapt to anything else.

Catherine programmed the 'Dumb' Ai directly from the designs of Chief Mendez himself who agreed with the idea as the senior UNSC officer as well as Spartan I was very capable of the job. The avatar of the newly created AI matched Chief Mendez down to his trademark facial scars. The newly created AI was more than ready to do it's work as soon as the rest of the weapon systems were completed as well as field tested. The new AI christened well enough as Leonidas, and wore the same armor as an old class Spartan hoplite. This was able to actually make the gruff and by the book mentor of the Spartans grin slightly.

Apart from the 1200 High-Velocity Gun Turrets, there were also other turrets such as the ones such as the 90mm High Velocity Cannons used by the Scorpion Tanks, these were somewhat faster than the 1200 High-Velocity Turrets and worked in conjunction with their bigger cousins for a greater wall of firepower. This made them deadly to all attackers in their range and those were soon to be tested. They also managed to create a large number of Archer Missile Pods to add more power to Delta Six, these were also supplanted by a number of. modified Argent V Missile pods as well as ASGM-10 Missile Pods, the same kinds of missiles used by the Longswords of the Nirvana.

The Nirvana's crew also took some M66 Gauss Cannons which were quite capable of ripping into even the heaviest armor though that was not possible in firing the weapons together at once. The weapons were also supported by an array of the M68 Gauss Canons, and while these were smaller, they fired faster and could unleash a hailstorm of weapons fire. There was no way for them to build a full scale magnetic Accelerator Canon for the station since the power supply of the station couldn't handle it.

The station's internal systems were also repaired; corroded wires and circuit boards were replaced with new ones. Security fields were installed into key access areas, as well as defensive positions along with guard stations with a full armory and Emergency First Aid Treatment station in place just in case the Harvesters could break into the station. The rotten sections of the Delta Six's plating were replaced by Vanadium Steel as well as well as the damaged section of the frame of the station were replaced by TR Steel Alloy. Once the repairs were done, the pirates, and their Talvernian allies were also on routine patrols with the Talvernians in the Vanguards while the women of Megele were in their Dreads escorted by the AI controlled Longswords.

The actions turned the once rotting and derelict station into one hell of a fortress, Liz and Patch had to admit that their once defenseless home was not turned into a veritable fortress that no sane person would dare to attack. They were also amazed by the arrival of surplus food, Tarak nutrient pills, medical supplies, spare parts, Tarak and UNSC weapons as well as ammunition. They were also given special manufacturing tools and machines to help them be more self sufficient. The Nirvana crew also located what appeared to a good site for a vegetable farm as well as a cloning facility and as soon as that was operational, the people of Delta Six could start breeding and growing all their food stuffs.

The station's new communication systems had also given the Delta Six people a chance to contact other worlds and inform them of the death of the Harvesters' only human agent as well as feed them reports on the current progress of the Harvesters.

The ships there were also there in the Delta Six Hangers were given full overhauls as well as needed repairs, most of the ships were already old and needed to be replaced, but with some elbow grease, and a lot of hard work, the ships were brought back to life, they were outfitted with weapons from Megele using the spare weapons for the Dread Squadrons as well as weapons from the UNSC Arsenals. The pirates were also able to give them a wing of the modified Vanguards to further increase their offensive and defensive abilities.

The pirates were not all that happy for the delays, but they knew that giving these people a fighting chance against the Harvesters was something that they could never turn away from, seeing that the people before them were all the refugees of worlds destroyed by the Harvesters. They knew these people deserved a fighting chance

--------

In the finally restocked bar of Delta Six…

Liz drank her newly acquired supply of whisky as she thought about that had happened in the span of a month. Their station which was once run down and looking like a mess was rebuilt and turned into a massive fortress, they were now armed like a small army and given enough supplies to last for years. It was a godsend, and while Liz had given up in believing in a God or Goddess ever since the fall of her and Patch's home world, she felt that fate had finally been kind to them after all they had endured.

As she finished her drink, she looked at one spot in the bar in particular, the same place Rabat had been executed by the Spartan only going be the name Master Chief, back then she wouldn't mind being around the man despite his arrogant attitude, but after learning that he was the man responsible for all the suffering of the people in this station, including her and Patch she felt no sense of pity, only a tinge of regret for not being the one to make Rabat pay for his crimes. The man had been the reason for the losses, the agony, and more for all the people involved. Had she known about it before, she would have gladly shot him dead.

The fact also remained that with him gone, the Harvesters would no longer have an agent to feed them information that could lead to other worlds being reduced into barren lands the way her and Patch's world had been reduced to, as well as the worlds of others. There had been no doubt that the very moment that Rabat's crimes had been unleashed to the public of Delta Six there was great anger and regret that they had never gotten the chance to gain their revenge.

"Lost in thought?"

Liz turned to find the Spartan in question before him, dressed head to toe in his MJOLNIR Mark VI Armor and her face looking back at her through the reflection of the polarized golden visor that the Master Chief had before him.

Liz nodded as she poured yet another drink to her shot glass and spoke.

"Yeah….I wished that I had known about the crimes that bastard committed, I would have killed him on the spot…I know killing him won't bring all the people he helped the Harvesters kill back to life, but at least they'll sleep better in the afterlife now that he's gone."

"You believe in?"

"In there being a divine being out there as well as heaven and hell? I gave up my world's faith ever since it was burned down, Master Chief. But this time, I guess that I can believe that not all mankind is lost. I might have lost some of my faith in God or a Goddess, but I guess my faith in people, humanity itself is restored. Thanks to you and the crew you work with, at least I know we all have a chance to beat these bastards, it's a slim chance, but better than laying down and letting them kill us without a fight."

The Spartan said nothing and Liz spoke to him while getting another shot glass.

"Look….I know for a fact that you're on duty and all…but you have time for a drink?"

The Spartan wondered about that, truth be told, he had never drank a single drop of alcohol in his entire life, and he was not sure about how to act, Spartans don't drink that much unless it was for energy and sustenance. However, he also knew that something like that was a gesture of respect among others. Besides, for a civilian, Liz had done well enough in defending the mission, and after all she had been through, at least she could have some peace.

The Spartan took off his helmet and placed aside his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle on the nearby table as well as his helmet and sat down.

"One drink."

Liz smiled as she poured herself a good amount and then she filled the glass of the Spartan. As she drank her drink slowly, John did the same and as soon as they were done drinking, Liz turned to see the view outside, the Dreads, Longswords, and the Vanguards flying about as well as the new weapons and armor on her new home comforted her as she looked at the Spartan.

"You know…part of me wishes you guys could stay here and help out in keeping the Harvesters away….but I get the feeling you are better off traveling out there and fighting those bastards."

"I guess so."

Liz looked at the Spartan and smiled a bit more….for a guy who was really pale, he was certainly good looking in a very primal fashion. Seeing him move and fight was shocking as well as slightly entrancing to say the least, she was tempted to try and get him to join her in her newly refurbished room, she wanted to see if he was a very capable guy in bed as he was in the battle field, but decided against it. However, he and his comrades had done more than their fair share of making life easier for them all, and that was enough. Besides, there was a chance this guy already had a partner, and she was not in the mood to be fighting another woman who was no doubt equal to the Spartan before her.

"Master Chief?"

"Yes?"

"I wish you the best of luck out there, there's still going to be a lot to do, I can bet after all you and the pirates have done to the Harvesters, they'd be wanting you dead."

John nodded and Liz offered her hand for a handshake.

"Promise me that you'll make those inhuman bastards pay for all the lives they ever took for their own greed and insanity."

John nodded and shook Liz's hand.

"I promise."

With that, the Nirvana left Delta Mission Station to continue on with the rest of the mission, the pirates and the people from the UNSC had no doubt in their minds that the Harvesters were not going to be blind for long, eventually they were going to find out that Rabat had been killed by the Master Chief and the only source of information they had outside in space concerning the other human colonies had just been taken down.

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In the Bio-Park…

The Master Chief looked out in space while he was in the Nirvana's garden and was deep in thought when he heard someone speak.

"Deep in thoughts Master Chief?"

John turned to see Franklin Mendez walk up to him and he saluted his commanding officer and father figure, Franklin returned the salute and then both Spartans, First Generation Spartan and Second Generation Spartan looked out at the sight before them.

"Yes sir…there's a chance the Harvesters are going to be sending out special units to hunt us down now, there's no way they can ignore us Spartans for long."

"True, but even still, we do what we have to in order to win. These Harvesters are not going to give up, that much is certain so we shouldn't either. You did well to get this far Master Chief."

"Thank you sir."

"But there is one lesson I hope you haven't forgotten."

"Sir?"

"A leader must be ready to send soldiers under his command to their deaths. That was what I taught you back on Reach."

"I know sir….but we need to save as many human lives as possible, we can't afford to lose too many lives."

"I take it Dr. Catherine had a conversation with you about that?"

"Yes sir."

"Fair enough, but keep in mind that we have to be ready for that time when it comes. There is no such thing as a victory without sacrifice, remember the soldiers who you and the others were named after?"

John had not forgotten his history lessons concerning the battle of Thermopylae and the fate of the Spartans who gave their lives when the Persians sought to conquer Greece, he began to see what Chief Mendez meant, the Spartans lost their lives to buy the Greek city states time to prepare and arm up to face the Persians. Now he and his fellow Spartans were in that same position, they were now the few who defied the Harvesters who sought to conquer and harvest humanity who they were once part of.

"I haven't forgotten sir."

"Good, that time come again that you have to sacrifice lives John. There is a difference…"

"Between a life well spent…and a life wasted."

"Good…come on, I think it's time we had a drink."

John was surprised by that, as far as he knew SCPO Franklin Mendez, the man never had a drink, but he was not going to turn down his commanding officer. The two left and arrived at the Forward Unto Dawn section of the Nirvana and there in the main hall was a large pitcher filled with a strong drink, no doubt brandy and already there were several glasses filled though there were glasses filled with fruit juice. There in the hall were the other Spartans all bare of their helmets, even the Spartan IIIs were there, with the helmets of their SPI Mark II Armors removed. There was also Catherine and Cortana.

Cortana smiled at John solemnly and spoke to her guardian, friend and protector.

"Glad you made it John. Come on, it time we salute the others."

Catherine nodded but in her case, she had a cup of hot coffee as she avoided alcohol at best. She knew that normally she would have preferred not to be in this occasion as she felt the still lingering guilt she had, but she couldn't turn down her Spartans. It was time that she thought back on their lives as well.

As the Spartans took the glasses, Franklin started it out for his side as he knew his fellow Spartan Is.

"To Avery J. Johnson, James Lee, Nolan Byrne, Gladys Wilson, Gilly, and to Morales."

With that, Franklin drank his shot and it was now the turn of the other Spartans, John was the first to start it out as he thought of all his fellow Spartan IIs.

"To Sam."

Kelly nodded and spoke next as she held her glass.

"To Grace."

Fred was next to speak with his own glass.

"To Malcolm."

Linda was next as well.

"To Will."

The cycle then repeated for the Spartan IIs as they remembered their fellow Spartans who were either Killed In Action and those who were Missing In Action.

"To James."

"To Kurt."

"To Fhajad."

"To Randall."

"To Sheila."

"To Kirk."

"To Rene."

"To Li."

"To Anton."

"To Vinh."

"To Joshua."

"To Isaac."

"To Jai."

"To Adriana."

"To Mike."

"To Douglas."

"To Alice."

"To Keiichi."

"To Jerome."

"To Maria."

"To Cassandra."

With that done, all four members of Spartan Blue team took their drinks and then it was the turn of the Spartan IIIs and Tom summarized it well as he and his fellow Spartan IIs raised their glasses.

"To all fellow brothers and sisters in arms."

The Spartan IIIs drank their drinks just as Cortana and Catherine did the same. In a nearby corridor was Magno and Buzam, along with Gascogne, Hibiki, Bart, Duero and the three Dread pilots Dita Liebely, Meia Gisborn, and Jura Basil Elden along with Barnette. Barnette then spoke to the others.

"What in the name of the Goddess are they doing?"

Duero spoke.

"They seem to be honoring fellow Spartans, no doubt the ones mentioned were either labeled as Killed in Action or Missing in Action."

"How can you be so sure?"

"It's a custom back on Tarak to make a toast and say the name of a lost comrade before drinking. It makes sense in that regard, they fought a collection of alien races for the past thirty years of their lives, no doubt despite being Spartans, there would have been losses on their side. They were literally fighting a losing war from what I understand so there were losses for them."

Bart and Hibiki were well aware of the custom and Magno agreed. The elderly woman knew full well how things were in the past and she could easily see that this was a solemn occasion for the Spartans and therefore they were not supposed to be interfering or disturbing the scene. Buzam nodded as well.

"We should leave them be, this is something that we're not part of."

Dita sighed and looked at John and she spoke.

"Mr. Green Alien….looks so sad."

Hibiki nodded at that and so did Jura and Barnette, Magno looked at Catherine as the woman looked very deep in thought as she held her mug of coffee, she had a feeling that the head of the Spartan II Program had a deep load inside of her and she was curious about that matter, but decided to leave that alone for now.

"Let's go."

As the crew let, the Spartans drank another round and decided to eat their meals for the night together as they did so long ago.

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To be continued…

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Author's Notes:

Well now, it seems that Rabat finally get's a bullet in the brain for his betrayal of the human race, it was bound to happen eventually so don't be surprised, after all, Rabat's not the first human the Master Chief ever had to kill, however, in this fic, he thankfully is the last one the Spartan has to kill, and in this case, the Master Chief has VERY good reason to kill the bastard.

I know a lot of guys who hate Rabat will be happy, however, the anime version of this guy turns out to not be all bad in this case, since this is my story and I had placed hints in the first VanDread Halo story that Rabat will eventually get what's coming to him for all he had done for the Harvesters.

Rabat's death ends his service to the Harvesters, so what does it mean for the people of Earth now that their top agent has just been dealt with by the Spartan? And what will happen now that they realize that they are no longer dealing with one Spartan, but several Spartans?

You can bet things are going to be hectic for the Nirvana crew and their allies, but for the next chapter, I have something for all my fans that will REALLY wake you all up and take notice….we have yet another thing from the Halo universe drop by in the VanDread Universe, no it's not the UNSC ships as well as Jessica, but it is something that is going to be very moving in the world of VanDread Halo…

And it's something MASSIVE in terms of ship types…and here's the deal….it's Forerunner…here's the trailer for all my readers so I hope you are ready for this!!!!

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Trailer:

The pirates looked at the images before them and they were very much shocked by the sight before them, the thing looked to be some sort of ship, but unlike any ship that they knew of

Cortana and Catherine looked at it very well, and so did John, but each of them gained their information in very different ways and circumstances.

John had seen this brand of ship before, it was the ship that powered High Charity, the home city of the Covenant before the Schism, and had been the Flagship of the last of the High Prophets, the Prophet of Truth, he knew just how deadly that ship was and how massive it was as well. He had been imprisoned by the Covenant in the ship when he had tried to kill Truth, but he had been captured and held there before he broke out and eventually landed in Africa to be rescued by Johnson, the Arbiter, and a band of UNSC Marines.

Cortana had gathered all the data that she could get while she was in High Charity as well as evading the Flood's leader Gravemind, as well as gathering all the information she had been able to get her hands on while in the data mainframe of the Ark.

And Catherine was shown the information regarding the ship before them as she had seen the information when she had been speaking with Joyous Rebirth back at the Shield World of Onyx.

Both women spoke at the same time.

"That's a Forerunner Dreadnaught…"

"What?!"

Magno and Buzam were confused by this, however, the senior pirate officers could tell from the expressions of both Cortana and Catherine, that they were familiar with this ship type and who built it. They had NEVER Seen this ship design before and the two pirate officers couldn't shake off the feeling that the ship before them was something totally different from anything they were familiar with.

The Spartan IIs and Spartan IIIs knew that something was wrong and Kelly saw the way John stood that he was not liking the implications of seeing a Forerunner Dreadnaught. The other one watching John was also Franklin Mendez, the senior Spartan I knew that this was a very serious matter since he could tell his former student was deep in thought as he gazed at the Forerunner Dreadnaught.

The Master Chief had only one overriding thought.

(We can't let this ship fall in anyone's hands….especially the Harvesters!)

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Now this will really be a hell of a ringer now won't it? How did a Forerunner Dreadnaught, a Key Ship land in the world of VanDread? What does this mean for all involved in the world of VanDread? Can the pirates do something about the mammoth ship? And what will it mean if the Harvesters get their evil hands on this ancient but no doubt still functional and deadly Forerunner vessel as well as all the data inside of it?

Wait and see!


	6. Chapter 6

VanDread Halo The Second Stage

Disclaimer: I don't own the two series where this story is based on so don't ask...

Chapter 5

Blast From the Past

Part 1

( ): Thoughts

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100,000 years before the rise of human civilization...

Offensive Bias looked over the data contained in it's inventory, the counter part, Mendicant Bias was beginning to unleash eh full might of it's forces as the A.I who formerly served the Forerunners sought to annihilate it's former creators. The new A.I's purpose was to fight with the rogue construct and defeat it before it spelled the doom for all the sentient species in the galaxy, along with those who were the ones that the Forerunners sought to preserve before the Flood consumed them.

As it turned to face the soon to come battle, all of it's Key Ships were brought to bare before the full might of the Flood Fleet under the leadership of the rogue A.I. The Key Ship was the most powerful force in the Forerunner Navy and could easily destroy ships that were not up to it's massive shields, armor, and weaponry. However the Flood Navy under the command of the rogue construct had far more ships than Offensive did in it's fleet, at least 4.8 million. Though most of the fleet in question comprised of not just Key Ships but also other craft once owned by the Forerunners, their numbers as well as the Flood's willingness to use suicide tactics would make this battle extremely difficult.

Originally the plan was to allow the Forerunners the chance to use the defenses of the Maginot Sphere to fight the Flood while the rest of the Forerunners would hide in their Shield Worlds to ride out the battle as soon as the Halo Rings were fired, but that all changed the very second the Gravemind convinced Mendicant Bias to side with them, in that instant, knowing their greatest defender was now their greatest threat, the Forerunners knew that their fate had turned for the worst, for in developing the A.I, they had imbued it with all their knowledge….as well as the locations of the Shield Worlds themselves. That meant that the Flood would know where to find them and crush them all in a series of deadly attacks.

There was no doubt that those of their kin who were on the rogue A.I's fleet had been consumed by the Flood and were lost forever in the clutches of the Gravemind. The defensive Fleet under Offensive Bias' command were at least 1000 combat worthy warships. These were supplemented by the emergency ships marshaled by Didact, the leader of the Forerunner military force, the three Fleets lending support to the coming battle were the Suppression, Security and Emergency Circumstance Fleets, bringing the Fleet total to at least 11,000 ships, still outnumbered by the overall might of the Flood controlled Fleet.

Didact looked at all the information, knowing that this would be the final battle, he had just gotten word that his lover, the Librarian had destroyed her own fleet of Key Ships, preventing them from being used by anyone else, as well as sealing away the portal to the Ark. She was all alone on that simple yet beautiful world, the one where she found a species worthy of being saved. He hoped that her sacrifice was worth it, and the race she risked her life to save would be worthy of carrying on with their task to guard and shepherd the universe. As for him….the time had come to end the Flood scourge once and for all.

He and no doubt all of his brethren in their ships…and their colonies were all going to dies, there was no escape for them now, the Flood had them at a corner and no doubt there was nothing that they could lose anymore. He and every one of his kin knew that as soon as he gave the order….the galaxy would be purged….to begin anew.

Long ago he was horrified at the thought of using the Halo Array and he argued about it's use. But now with this before them, there was no other choice.

He turned to face Offensive Bias and spoke to the Construct.

"Any sign of them?"

"My data indicates that Mendicant will make his move here Forerunner. It would be best that things are prepared."

"True….farewell Offensive….this will be the last time we will see one another."

Didact made his way to the teleportation system and moved to the first of the Halo Rings to begin the process of powering up the Halo Ring as Offensive got ready for the fleet of his rampant 'brother' to arrive.

It was not long before the battle alarms sounded all throughout the fleet as Slipspace openings began to appear before the large fleet of the Forerunners, from those openings came more ships, their ships, millions of civilian craft and then large numbers of military grade ships, however the Forerunner crews who were part of the Fleet of Offensive knew that the ships before them were not of their group….they were not manned by their brethren, but by the twisted mockeries of their comrades as they were infected by the Flood, there was no turning back now, they might die, but they were not going down without a fight!

As the Fleets faced each other, the two sides waited for two hours, and it was then that Mendicant Bias made his move as a quarter of the Fleet came right at them, they were merely small freighters and pleasure craft, yet numbered at least 1.7 million, they were not firing their weapons, rather, they were going to storm the Fleets by sheer numbers. It was a basic strategy, fill the battle field with so many targets the enemy didn't have enough time to fight so many at once….the battle had begun .

The space before the Fleets was filled with ships as the Forerunners held their line and continued to fight, taking down ship by ship but it was not long before the ships of the Flood began to board into one of the nearby vessels, but the Forerunners were not going to go down without a fight as the ship that was being boarded charged right into the coming horde of ships, crushing several, spilling the number of Flood warriors into the cold void of space. The ship going on, piloted to the very end by it's crew of Forerunners, even if they were slowly being overwhelmed

The two Fleets begin the fight one another and it was not very long before the ruined hulks of ships all over the place, the ruined husks of civilian ships filled the area before the fleet and these were joined by the ruined husks of smaller ships that were of the military class. The place was lit up as explosions were seen as well as energy weapon trails lit space up in a cascade of utter annihilation. Mendicant was lost in it's rage to annihilate the beings who once created it while offensive held it's own, while lacking the free will or creativity of it's brother A.I it was more methodical and logical. There was no doubt that countless Forerunner crew members on the ships commanded by Offensive were either killed, consumed, or driven mad by the raging battle before them.

One could only imagine the sheer horror before them as ships fired their weapons to glowing point, burning ruins of ships of every size filled space, bodies of both Flood and Forerunner floated in the cold vacuum of space. It was a scene of apocalyptic proportions as both fleets continued to smash into one another like ravenous beasts thirsting for flesh and blood.

However, the battles were going into the favor of the Forerunners despite the tremendous losses, for the battles were a feint. For the one who was going to send the death keel to the Flood in this moment was already in position.

Didact watched the battle unfold before him, he looked at the vessels of his comrades the colonies of his people, and even the ships controlled by the Flood now smashing and fighting with Offensive Bias. He thought of all the suffering his people had undergone, the loss of so many loved ones and kin. He then thought of the lives lost fighting this parasite that came to this galaxy to twist it into a mockery of life. He thought of the once pristine worlds reduced into nightmarish hells by the Flood. He thought of the hubris of his own people, treating the Flood like an infection instead of treating it as a threat to life. And finally….he thought of his lover the Librarian, he had read the last message again….her asking him to fire thee array to end this, and allow life to begin anew.

He looked at the images of the beings his lover had sacrificed her freedom, safety and very life to save, the ones of that simple world she was now trapped on. He shed one single tear and spoke his final words for his lost love.

"Librarian….I hope than we will meet again on the Great Journey beyond this life."

He then turned to the beings, looked them up and saw what they were…

They were the ones known as Humans. The species his lover believed were precious and worth saving. He thought of her words about his belief in the Mantle….maybe she had been right, but it was still something worth believing in. Life was precious, something that the Flood could never understand or comprehend in their undying drive to consume all living things. He felt that while it might have been flawed and led to this moment. It gave his people something to believe in and it gave him the will to face the darkness of the Flood despite the odds stacked before them.

Now he felt that it was time to pass on the Mantle…no…it was time to pass on the need to defend life to those who were able to defend it….to unite those who would inherit the newly cleaned galaxy if ever such a threat as the Flood came back. As he looked at the Humans before him and read the catalogues made by his love, he made a decision on humanity, he decided that they should reclaim the galaxy should the time for their rise came to them.

With that, he typed the last codes into the Forerunner database. With that done, he turned to the panel before and slid in the Index, in that moment, the Halo Array came online. He watched the display as well as the massive sphere of glowing energy appearing before him. He closed his eyes and bid farewell.

In that moment, he heard the signal that all the Halo Rings had fired…and then he died. And with him, the fall of all life to sustain the Flood.

That turned the tide around as Mendicant's fleet, once outnumbering the fleet of it's brother A.I was now outnumbered, Offensive took that moment to counter attack as it knew that now was the time, although half of it's auxiliary fleet had been taken over by the Covenant and was now the spear tip of Mendicant's assault the firing of the Halo Array had killed the beings in them, rendering them as nothing more than pilotless husks of ships. It was then that Offensive activated the self destruct sequences in the ships as well as creating uncontained Slipspace ruptures, the effects tore into the rogue A.I's forces as ships were consumed in fire, torn apart by debris, or by the uncontained Slipspace ruptures.

The battle was now in the favor of Offensive, but unknown to him, one such Key Ship was not entirely destroyed, the damage to the ship was extensive and had sent the wrong signal to the A.I that it was destroyed through the activation of it's self destruct sequence, but in reality it was dragged into a Slipspace portal, and despite the damage, it somehow managed to remain relatively intact, despite the crew being all slain. The Slipspace rupture that it was near to also was accidentally recalibrated into a much different setting and instead of ripping the ship to shreds, brought it into itself.

As soon as it faded away in the chaos of the battle, the ship burned through the atmosphere of a planet and soon landed in a totally new world…, the results were explosive as dust and rock filled the sky and as the land became calm, the ruined Key Ship lay there, a silent tomb for those who were all slain in itself, and testament to the ruinous battle it had just been in. Yet the ship was still intact, housing it itself the knowledge of the Forerunners…waiting for someone to try and claim it.

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In the other dimension...

The Spartans IIs were currently training once more with their MJOLNIR Armor in the shooting range, that is wit the exception of John who was currently reviewing some tactical information on the holo-table with Mendez as well as Dr. Catherine, they were currently working on improving the combat records that were acquired by the Nirvana Fire Teams in order to make judgments on the new tactics of the Harvester Shock Troopers. The fact was that since the Master Chief had more experience dealing with the Harvesters than the others he was the one to turn to when they needed information on the enemy they were currently facing.

"They seem to be getting smarter, before they would only move en masse to overwhelm their foes, no tactics whatsoever, but they began to evolve and learn, now they seek cover and can be a lot harder to hit."

Mendez nodded as he spoke.

"They are learning quickly, that much is obvious, there will come a time they might even act like real soldiers instead of cannon fodder."

The UNSC scientist then spoke as she looked at the records.

"That might be true, but they seem to have not changed their weaponry, they may have upgraded their weapon systems to be a lot more effective, but they still use the basic models, if we can update the Nirvana crew's equipment, then we have a chance."

The Master Chief agreed and that brought back a previous encounter with the Harvester Shock Troopers, the Harvesters were caught off guard with the upgrades to the Megele Laser Rifles, as those were easier to field as well as being more precise and powerful. However he kept in mind that while it was easier to deal with the Harvester Shock troopers for the moment, there was no doubt that the recent upgrades they had indicated that the Harvesters were learning how to fight back more effectively meant that they would have to revamp the whole crew's reactions on how to deal with the Harvester Boarding Parties as well as their forces on the ground.

He had placed that recommendation to Captain Magno as well as Commander Buzam, they agreed and began to make some much needed changes.

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In the Engineering Bay...

"How goes the work Parfait?"

The bespectacled head engineer turned to see Magno and Buzam there as she was working on a data pad. The head engineer looked the data pad over one more time as she reported to the head officers of the Nirvana.

"We can get to work on this immediately Captain, it might take us some more time that normal, but we can improve the Security Teams' protection well enough."

Buzam nodded at the news.

"They will need it, do what you can Parfait."

"Yes Commander!"

As the two officers left the Engineering Bay, they thought back on the latest report handed by the Master Chief as well as the reports on the injuries suffered by the crew on the last battles with the Harvester Shock Troopers. While the Nirvana Fire Teams fared better than most in battle due to their training, equipment, as well as experience, the Nirvana's Security Teams needed to rethink their tactics and strategies in order to match up with the Harvester Shock Troopers. The lessons learned by the Nirvana Fire Teams in all of their battles as well as their missions had made them into a very effective fighting force in the minds of the two women. In fact, they would be able to give the Megele Armed forces something to test themselves against as the women of the Nirvana Fire Teams had gained a lot of combat experience and skills than most. The skills handed to them by the Spartan proved invaluable as the women of the Fire Teams were able to think on their feet, act accordingly to shifting battle conditions, lead and command when needed or when the Master Chief was not around to lead them, and more.

The elderly captain recalled how the women of the Fire Teams were before they were trained by the Spartan, and she thought of how they were now. They were currently undergoing their training once more, under the watchful eye of their NCOs

The Security Teams needed to up their abilities as well as their equipment and training, which was why the two had decided that they were going to allow the Nirvana Fire Teams to train the Security Teams on the lessons imparted to them by the Spartan to help minimize casualties among the Security Teams. They also needed to learn how to fight as a good force, as while they were well trained, the Security teams have never been in this kind of situation before, they relied on their previous Megele Laser Rifles as well as their Laser Rings but those were proving to be inadequate in dealing with the Harvester forces when they were able to hit the Nirvana.

That was why they had begun to change the outfits of the Security Teams, while the uniforms worn by the Security Teams were comfortable, effective as well as pleasing to the eye by Megele Standards; they were not meant to be used for such rigorous combat as was now being faced by the crew when dealing with the every growing and changing operational doctrines of the Harvesters. Former members of the Security Teams who were now part of the Fire Teams learned that lesson early one when they started their training with the Spartan. While the clothes were able to clean themselves as well as being tear and heat resistant as well as comfortable, they were nigh useless in the battle fields that they were on and offered little to no protection from weapons fire.

Magno and Buzam decided to remedy that by having Parfait graft high grade body armor into the new Security Team uniforms as well as making the fibers more resistant to damage as well as tearing, the ceramic armor would be denser as well as having a specially made ablative coating to deflect energy and heat damage from the armor plating. They were also going to be outfitted with a new development that Parfait had managed to come up with on her spare time, a small shielding system that replicated the MJOLNIR Shield system's ability to cover the whole body but based on the same shielding system that Parfait had developed for her own Power Armor series, the shields were rechargeable and were not prone to burning out, but they were going to have to be replaceable to make sure that the shields were not stressed, the shields could be locked into place and could be easily removed as they were running on a very effective power cell system.

The two women also decided to ask one of the Spartans or Chief Mendez to recondition the Security Teams in order to handle the full physical requirements in order to match up to the standards needed to defend the ship more effectively, as they had learned that Franklin Mendez was the one who taught all the Spartans in their younger days, he was the perfect choice to retrain the security teams to be tougher as well as better conditioned to even the odds a bit more should the Fire Teams and the Talvernian allies be in a mission on the ground, or if he was too busy, they could ask the other Spartan IIs.

To that end, the two hope that the plans would ensure that their Security teams would be able to match up with the Fire Teams themselves in ability as well as physical skills. They were not planning to remove the Security teams but to make them better in a way that would provide the women with a much needed edge in combat with the Harvesters, it would be difficult, but there was no other way around it. They also planned to allow the Security Team members to be equipped with some of the weapons already in use by the Fire Teams such as the UNSC weapons as well as the Covenant based weapons. This would give the needed arsenals to match up with the enemy.

Parfait had also come up with a new concept that could soon be put into use, she had taken inspiration from the SPI Mark II Armor used by the Spartan IIIs as well as an old concept she had discovered in the Nirvana's old data banks. Originally the old Earth scientists had come up with the concept of artificial muscles known as carbon-nanotubes, these were specially made materials that when hit by a current can actually increase their tensile strength, elongation and contraction qualities as well as their durability made them very effective substitutes for the Reactive Liquid Metal Crystals used by the MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor, the SPI Mark II were not equipped with it but they were easier to make since they were less expensive so as she studied them, Parfait used this concept she found to help the Security Teams with having the ability to carry heavier equipment as well as extra weapons and ammunition., the carbon nanotubes would not be able to match the raw power of the Spartan IIs who were already formidable even without their MJOLNIR, but they were cheaper and easier to make, namely due to the advances of Megele manufacturing technology.

As the two women left the area, Buzam turned to speak to the elderly Captain who she had followed for years.

"We've still have time to make it back to Tarak and Megele, but I have no doubt we're going to have to be on our guard, the Harvesters will what they possibly can to deal with us."

"You are right BC, we've been a real problem to them now, they can't ignore us forever and I have no doubt that they will do whatever it is they can to deal with us, but as long as we're doing our duty to humanity, I am not going to bow down."

"Neither am I Captain, but we do face a problem."

Magno nodded, she already had a very clear idea as to what Buzam was referring to.

"The First Generation on Tarak and Megele are our biggest concerns, we need to find some way to convince them that the best chance humanity has to survive this coming assault from the Harvesters is to fight together, that in itself will not be easy. I wish we could have some people to speak to them of this chance. The men of Tarak will be quite a problem in their own right, since most of them are extremely stubborn. I doubt they would listen to women even if we are pirates."

"We do have Tarak men on the ship Captain, surely they could help us in this matter?"

"Maybe, but we don't know if the leaders of Tarak have decided to create some sort of propaganda run to hide the truth from the rest of the people on their world, not to mention that they would not believe them easily, Hibiki is a Third Class citizen and from what I gather, they are treated as menial laborers and workers, so I doubt that Hibiki could be able to gather much support on Tarak."

"What about Bart?"

"Bart may have a chance since his family has some considerable status in the planet, but I doubt that he will be able to do enough. His family are the ones who deal with the manufacturing of food pills, they don't have the necessary political clout to help in convincing them completely."

"What of Duero himself? He is an elite after all."

"True, but even then, there are only three of them Buzam, we need more than just them, besides, there is no doubt in my mind that there will be people on Tarak who would do anything to keep their people to be fighting us women. We need more men from Tarak to help us convince the rest of the men to stand down and try to come to a truce with women…and that is where things can get dicey."

Buzam had a very good idea just what Magno was saying, it was going to be hard for them to be able to convince the women of their home world that working with the men would be a lot more preferable than fighting the Harvesters all on their own, the two senior officers had accepted that working together was far better in beating the Harvesters and their forces than trying to beat them alone. It would not be easy since the women of their world viewed men as inferior and ignorant brutes as well, there was no doubt in their minds that it would prove to be a real challenge for them all. However it was then that Buzam had a thought and this had something to do with the current members of their crew. She knew that the male and female members of the Talvernian contingent were going to have some difficulty when they arrived at Tarak and Megele as they were from a co-gender world and being dragged into two other worlds due to their respective genders would no doubt be something they would dislike. However the greatest concern for her were the members from the other dimension.

She worried what would happen to the female Spartans as well as Catherine and Cortana as well as the male Spartans and Chief Mendez, there was going to be quite the mess to deal with the very second they were in the custody of the two worlds, there was also the danger of the technology that the Nirvana's crew had, the men and women would fight over it all, and no doubt would reverse engineer the technology in order for to use for their own agendas.

Buzam then spoke to Magno about her fears on the fates of their allies including the Spartans, Catherine, Mendez, and Cortana as well. Magno was silent as they walked back to the bridge and she then spoke.

"I will not let anything happen to the Spartans, Dr. Catherine, Cortana, or Mendez, they have helped us in so many difficulties and the thought of them being taken away will be bad news for us all. However, I need to take care of another matter….I want to talk to Dr. Catherine about the Spartan II Program."

Buzam then asked the elderly captain the question that plagued her the very second she realized just what Magno had in mind.

"Do you really think that she will tell you that captain, the Master Chief might have told us about it months before….but I have a feeling that Dr. Catherine might object to telling her side of the story, and besides, despite how….disturbing it was to learn what the Master Chief and his fellow Spartan IIs had gone through in the program, you cannot deny the results."

Magno sighed at that.

"I know….but I still wish to know her side of the story either way, for now we need to take care of other matters, that can wait, we still need to be on the lookout for the Harvesters just in case they decide to try and get the drop on us when we least expect it."

Buzam nodded at that as they arrived at the bridge, the Commander then turned to the elderly Captain as she spoke to her once more.

"Here's hoping that at least we can find some way to turn things around BC."

----------

They had no idea that they were going to get their wish in a way that was going to rock the boat like mad.

--------

The Bridge…

The Bridge crew were currently running their usual routines on the bridge when the Clarion Spy Drones began to pick up some unknown signals, Ezra and the others began to focus the scanners to figure out what the signals were and as soon as the Buzam and Magno arrived on the bridge, they were able to find out that the there was not one signal, but two though apparently the distance was garbling up the signal rather badly.

"What seems to be going on?"

Belvedere spoke first.

"There seems to be some sort of signal coming before us captain, though it seems to be actually two signals, we're trying to figure out if it's some sort of distress signals from other people or something else entirely."

Buzam was quickly curious as well and nodded for the bridge crew to do what hey possibly could to figure out the origin of the signals. It took about a few minutes for the crew to decipher the two signals since the two signals were very far from the Nirvana's route, but as the ship continued to move through space it was not long before they were able to separate the signals and to their surprise, one of the distress signals was a Megele signal!!! And to really throw a monkey wrench in the mix as one would say it, the other signal was that of Tarak!!

Buzam looked at Magno in surprise and she did the same to her commander.

"What could a Megele distress signal AND a Tarak distress signal doing all the way out here?!"

"I have no idea….as far as I knew Captain, none of our ships or that of the men have never left our solar system due to the magnetic storms and debris belts that surround it. What do you think? Should we take a look as to what is going on around here?"

Magno thought about it and weighed their options, something was not right about this, however, they needed to know just what was going on. If this was a trap made by the Harvesters to bring them in for an ambush, then it was very well thought out, but as far as they knew from what they were able to scavenge from the data archives of Rabat's ship, there was no mention of any ships from either their world or that of the men being far beyond the magnetic storm and debris belt.

On the other hand, if this was a genuine distress call from both their worlds, then they would be advised to NOT turn it down since there was a chance to get some new allies into fighting this war with the Harvesters and they could help them forge an alliance between both Tarak and Megele. However even this had problems, if both were indeed from people from both Tarak and Megele then there was a chance they were already fighting one another and those were merely survivors. Even if that was true, they couldn't afford to lose this chance.

With that in mind, she turned to Buzam and gave the order.

"Have everyone on combat alert status BC, we're going to check those signals out."

Buzam nodded and gave the orders, Magno then turned to Cortana who had just arrived and heard the whole thing.

"Cortana, can you send out the Drones to verify the location of the signals?"

"Already on it Captain."

Cortana went to the holo-tank and quickly slid into it and was now in her AI form and made the call to send out the Clarion Spy Drones as well as dispatching a squadron of Longswords to act as a forward recon squadron to make sure that if this was a Harvester ambush, the Nirvana was not going to run head long into it as well as give the Harvesters the false idea that the Nirvana was on it's way there already.

All over the Nirvana, the rumors of the located Megele and Tarak distress beacons spread and there was talk of what to do when that happened, Bart was already on his way to the bridge to lead the ship in that direction while Duero got ready for the soon to come patient calls if there were injuries to be brought in. his experience with treating female patients would come in handy as well as his still existing understanding on how to heal injured men, however there were some problems with the idea since these were men from his world and they might be hostile towards women.

As for Hibiki he was already in his Vanguard, ready to launch out at a moment's notice, already decked in his Marine Body Armor and his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle there with him for combat use in his Vanguard's cockpit along with extra ammunition along with his M6G Magnum and Combat Knife.

The men of Tarak were not the only ones getting ready for the soon to come encounter, the Nirvana's Dread Squadrons were already scrambling out for battle and were heading into their Dreads and were now in the process of setting up a defensive screen for the Nirvana as well as joining the other squadrons of Longswords that Cortana was already sending out to help with the operation and to add an extra punch to the attack force. The Nirvana Fire Teams were also eager to see if the rumors were true and were already getting dressed in their fatigues as well as their Marine Body Armor as well as getting their weapons for combat. The Security Teams were also getting suited up for what could happen in the coming minutes.

As for the Talvernians, they were getting geared up for the soon to come mission and were already getting their weapons and equipment ready for the call to go down there and beat feet with the rest of the ground teams or support their allies in defending the Nirvana from boarders as they had already done well enough on their own under their officers.

As for the UNSC allies of the Nirvana pirates and the men of Tarak, they were also getting ready for the soon to come mission, the Spartan IIIs got their weapons ready and more than prepared as their work the repairs and maintenance of their SPI Mark 2 Armor was already finished while the Spartan IIs had done their routine run checks on each other's MJOLNIR Mark V Powered Assault Armor. Despite the fact that the MJOLNIR series was the pinnacle of UNSC research into Power Armor, the Spartan IIs took no chances with their gear at all times and would routinely check each other's MJOLNIR for any signs of damage that would compromise it's ability and functions in battle.

The only exception to that was John's MJOLNIR Mark VI as it was already at the pinnacle of power as well as the enhancements given to it by the Paeksis, that made the MJOLNIR Mark VI a lot stronger and better than the previous MJOLNIR Mark VI.

------

In the bridge…

"That's where the signals are coming from?"

Magno and the others looked at the world before them, it seemed to be fairly basic, though it was hardly spectacular, there were sections of land that had trees and there were signs of water there as there were lakes, rivers, and large bodies of sea water, judging by the incoming data from the Clarion Spy Drones.

The Nirvana had taken a more unique course in order to avoid any possibly Harvester ambush forces that might be waiting for the right moment to attack them, they however intended to ambush the Harvesters and turn their plans around. They did so by moving well within the shadows of the planets and floating celestial masses that were near the planet that they had determined the signals had come from, they had broken away from that plan when it was determined that there was no sign of any Harvester forces in the area. They then decided to examine just where the signals were from as well as scan the planet for any sign of the sources of the signals that they had picked up.

Ezra nodded.

"The signals appear to be coming from this planet Captain, we're still trying to locate the sources but they appear to be located some fair distance from one another at the moment."

"I see….keep scanning, we need to know just how two signal sources from our home world of Megele and that of the men's home world of Tarak is out here of all places."

It took a while but as soon as John and the others including Mendez, Tom, Lucy, Fred, and Catherine arrived to see what was going on in their mission to find out just what was going on before them, that the Bridge crew were able to locate the source of the signal from their world of Megele. They located the spot and Cortana quickly began to enlarge the images to see just what sort of source it was. The image appeared to be a fairly large frigate type ship that was arrayed in the same fashion of the pirates' own cruiser before the ship formed with the Ikazuchi as well as the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn. Only this version was a lot larger than the pirate cruiser and apparently better armed and armored though it appeared to have been through one heck of a fire fight.

The ship was currently near the planet and on a stationary orbit over it, so far it appeared to be immobile at the moment.

The color was deep magenta and despite the distance between it and the Nirvana due to the pirates being cautious still even though they were now assured that there was no sign of the Harvester ambush force in the area, the Clarion Spy Drones were able to get them the information that they needed to determine the ship's origins.

Buzam looked on ands replied.

"That's a Megele Navy Battle Cruiser….but such ships are supposed to be used only in rare missions. What could that battle cruiser be doing all the way out here?"

"That's a very good question BC, and that is something we are going to do our best to answer, are there any life signs on the ship?"

Celtic and the others looked on and then Ezra replied.

"Yes there are life signs captain, but it appears that the ship has suffered considerable damage and is not able to move properly, and there seems to be some considerable damage to it's ability to communicate unless it's done in short range communications."

"I see….do we have an ID tag on the ship in our archives concerning any Megele Navy ship?"

Amarone ran through their pirate database and managed to find a name, though it was a name that surprised her.

"We do Captain….it's the Ruby Rapier."

Magno gave a slight frown and that was noted easily enough by the others and Cortana who was still in her AI form faced the elderly woman.

"What seems to be the problem Captain?"

"That cruiser is a pirate hunter, we dealt with it before when it came to look for us in our base, the commander of the ship is named Cassandra Royce, she is one persistent woman and we had managed to evade her for quite a while, she's something of a believer in the propaganda that men are the enemy and all that, so she might react badly if she finds herself around men, her crew might feel the same as well."

Cortana snorted a bit and replied.

"Sounds like a real charming lady…"

Magno grinned a bit but she still frowned at the ship.

"The Ruby Rapier is one of the most advanced ships that the Megele Navy has since making battlecrusiers is not someone one does everyday due to the money and effort going into making that kind of ship. Not to mention is houses some of our world's best military forces for both ground operations as well as for space combat, at least a division's worth from what I recall in our days of gathering information as well as setting up the pirates for the first time…but how the heck did it come to be here and this far from Megele, let alone in this kind of shape?"

Buzam then spoke to Belvedere.

"Is there any sign of Harvester wreckage?"

The blonde bridge crew member shook her head.

"None that the scanners picked up Commander, and the damage on the Ruby Rapier doesn't match the kind of damage from a Harvester attack."

Buzam thought about that and then recalled that there was a Tarak distress signal in the area to and as much as it sounded odd to most listeners, the silver haired and tanned commander wondered if the Ruby Rapier had an encounter with the men that resulted in the Megele Battleship getting this much damage to itself. She then decided to voice her concern to the rest of the people on the bridge.

"Is there a chance that the Ruby Rapier was attacked by the men of Tarak?'

That got a reaction from the bridge crew as Celtic replied.

"Begging pardon Commander, but there is no way that the men of Tarak could have done this to the Ruby Rapier."

Belvedere nodded as well with Celtic.

"I agree with Celtic, no offense to the men here….but the idea of them being able to do this to one of our world's own battle-cruisers with their technology is kind of hard to picture."

Amarone also nodded.

"The Ruby Rapier is one of the best crewed ships of the Megele Navy, not to mention one of the most well armed, supplied, and equipped….there's no way it could have suffered that kind of damage from the men, we attacked their fleet and we gave them a run for their money as well didn't we? And we were not even the military…"

Magno coughed a bit to end the discussion and replied.

"It's true we beat the men of Tarak and their fleet no less than a year ago….but let's not forget that we caught them off guard due to stealth and surprise, not to mention the majority of them were merely recruits and novices. Keep in mind that there are other men on Tarak who are not to be underestimated. Not to mention they might have learned from what we did to them and developed new tactics and technology to counter us."

"It might seem impossible at first, but there is no doubt that the men are far from stupid, you all know that to be true, after all, we have one such young man serving here on the Nirvana as our Doctor and he's one of the best I've seen, we've got a good navigator with us who is also from Tarak and we have the young man who forms the VanDreads. And of course the others who have helped us make it this far. If there is one thing that I've learned in my younger life and in this trip it is to never underestimate anyone on the basis of gender."

The meaning of those words was not lost to the rest of the bridge crew and that was when Buzam ordered the bridge crew to scan for the Tarak signal. They needed to know just what sort of ship was it from Tarak that came with the Ruby Rapier and if it was the one that caused such damage to the Ruby Rapier. It was not long before they spotted the ship in question and it was a sight as well.

The ship resembled the very same ship designs used by the men of Tarak, so much so that it resembled the new sections attached to the old Ikazuchi very well. However, there seemed to be some considerable increase in it's overall length and therefore it was very large in scope than the ships that accompanied the Ikazuchi at the time they had launched the attack on the Tarak fleet a year ago. Magno and the others frowned as they didn't recognize the ship design as it clashed with the older ship designs of the men of Tarak, but Mendez looked at the ship with a critical soldier's eye and replied.

"That ship's almost the same as the old Halcyon-Class Cruisers the UNSC had and got out of storage the fight the Covenant, although this is a lot wider than the Halcyon cruisers, and a lot larger too. That must be a capital class ship of some sort."

John and the others who were from the UNSC nodded, the ship indeed have a resemblance to the UNSC Halcyon-Class Cruisers that were replaced by the Marathon-Class Cruisers in the UNSC Navy. Originally meant to be scrapped and retired from service due to not being able to match the overall firepower and technical advances of new model ships, the Halcyon-Class Cruisers were retrofitted and given better equipment, weaponry, armor and more when the war with the Covenant started.

The ships were unique to the UNSC due to the heavy cross bracings used in their construction and another thing that separated the Halcyon-Class Cruisers was the hexagonal honeycomb designs that they were based on. This design and the cross bracings gave the ship amazing durability and structural integrity. Halcyon-Class Cruisers were able to weather a storm of weapons fire that would have crippled other ships and Halcyon-Class Cruisers were able to maintain their form despite nearly losing all armor and suffering hull breaches in various parts of the ship.

The ship that showed the strength of the design was the Pillar of Autumn as despite the extensive damage the ship had apparently suffered in the battle over the first Halo Ring found by John and Cortana, it was able to land virtually intact on the Ring and remain so until he and Cortana blew it up to prevent Guilty Spark from firing the Ring and causing the death of all life to contain the Flood. John also knew that a number of the ships were also present in the Orbital Defense Force over Earth and played a key role in holding off the Covenant forces.

The crew were finally able to get the name of the ship and Belvedere spoke out the name.

"That ship's name is the Titan's Wrath….but there is no mention of such a ship in the data archives of the Ikazuchi."

That made the others wonder just what was going on, until Bart came in and looked utterly awed by the sight of the ship.

"That's…by Grand Pa…that's really the Titan's Wrath?! I thought that whole story was just a joke!! Some sort of bed time story or propaganda trick…but it's real….the Titan's Wrath is really real…"

Magno then spoke to Bart.

"What's wrong Bart? Do you recognize the ship?"

Bart nodded but he was still awed by what he was looking at.

"I've never seen the ship Captain….but I've heard of it. It was my grandfather who told me about this story when I was still a kid…he said to me that the Titan's Wrath was supposed to be the result of some sort of black ops ship construction program that the First Generation cooked up years before. That ship was supposed to actually be the first ship of it's kind and had been based from a good deal of gathered data from the Ikazuchi's data archives before the First Generation took that section of the ship. The data talked about a battle-cruiser with amazing fire power, armor, and more and could carry an entire division of soldiers complete with ground forces and enough supplies to allow a full scale campaign to be undertaken, it could serve as a battle cruiser and staging platform for ground assaults on entire planets. The First Generation was supposed to have taken great interest in the ship and planned to build it. It was supposed to be the first ship that the Tarak Navy would have and the most powerful of all ships."

"But then the program stopped and was discontinued….or at least most of us thought. There were some wild stories that the program was actually hidden away and would be kept as a backup, just in case that the attack on…well, the attack on Megele failed or something like that. Anyway, the program was supposedly forgotten though there were rumors that said that the discontinued program produced a super battle cruiser….and that is the Titan's Wrath."

It was then Duero came in via the communications network and nodded as well.

"I've heard rumors of the Titan's Wrath as well, and even I thought that it was a rumor, even though I and Bart are considered First Class Citizens as well as our comrades, we were never told to deny the rumors, at first I thought that it was indeed nothing more than rumor, even when there were whisperings back in the Academy that a considerable number of previous graduates from Tarak's various Academies all over our world as well as exceptional science minded people and engineers, technicians, and more were being sent to some secret location near the planet, I discounted it….but now…it seems that not everything that the top brass said was a lie after all."

Magno couldn't help but feel some unease about this revelation as she looked at the Titan's Wrath. To think that the men of Tarak actually had a ship that could be able to stand up to and cause considerable damage to one of the Megele Navy's best battle-cruisers. It was something that made her wonder just how the men had kept this ship a secret from their intelligence sources, not to mention that if the men had such a classified program to create that machine for war, what would have happened if that ship was alongside the Ikazuchi when they tried to attack no less than a year ago.

However it still raised a good number of questions in her mind as to why it was only now that this ship was released? If this Titan's Wrath was supposed to be a special project ship and was kept completely away from even the First Class Citizenry, why was it only now that it was unveiled?

"What sort of weapons is it supposed to have anyway?"

Duero and Bart shook their heads and Bart replied.

"We don't know….but considering that it's a black ops ship Captain, and the people who took part of it's construction, then it must have a large number weapon systems and equipment that is considered to be very much S-Ranked fire-power."

"S-Ranked?"

Duero took over at the explanations.

"On Tarak we usually have a ranking system for all major weapon systems, from E-Rank which is very basic and anyone can use with relatively basic knowledge to S-Ranked which is highly classified and dangerous weaponry to be handled only by the best trained and experienced crews. The Titan's Wrath was rumored to have been the site where some very exotic weapons tests were conducted for ship borne weapons, that's all we know Captain."

Buzam thought it over and replied.

"That would make the Titan's Wrath the unofficial flagship of the Tarak Navy, but why would they unleash it now, if this was indeed the first ship of it's kind, why risk exposing it?"

Fred was the one who spoke out.

"Your attack on the Ikazuchi would be the reason….you attacked and embarrassed the men no doubt….and now they are REALLY angry about it. Angry enough to bring that ship out from the shadows, Bart, just when did this ship building program supposedly disappear?"

Bart thought about it and replied.

"At least 50 years ago from what I recall."

Fred nodded and Catherine replied.

"That's plenty of time to construct other ships and develop new technologies, they might have dispatched specialized mining teams to gather asteroids and strip mine them for the resources to help aid in the construction of the ships without taking too many supplies from the official production lines, that way everyone else thought that the Ikazuchi and it's escort fleet were the only note-worthy fleet that the men have….keeping the Titan's Wrath and any other ships like it well away from prying eyes and open ears."

Mendez nodded at that and then Cortana did a scan on the ship in question to get a much better look. The ship appeared to have suffered considerable damage as well, but remained virtually intact and could no doubt still take on the Megele ship despite the damage it had sustained. The former UNSC AI had to give the men credit for keeping such a ship a secret from the women and this Titan's Wrath looked to be a serious fighter if it was able to cause this much damage.

"I can't really say just what sort of armor they have on that thing, but it's rather sturdy indeed to take that much abuse and still remain intact. They must have copied the data from the Ikazuchi and then purged the original data from the archives to keep the program a secret….rather clever actually."

Magno sighed, it seemed that this was not going to be an easy day for everyone as she had suspected the very second they picked up the signals.

"To think I'd get to see this at my age. Are the ships doing anything yet?"

Cortana looked over the data and so did the other members of the bridge crew and shook their heads with Ezra speaking.

"They seem to be on some sort of standby mode, probably waiting for the other to make the first move, they don't seem to know that we're around at the moment since we're well out of weapon and sensor range."

Buzam then spoke to Cortana.

"Are there any signs of Dread squadrons around the Ruby Rapier at the moment? And is there sign of Vanguard squadrons around the Titan's Wrath?"

Cortana did the scan and replied.

There are numbers of Dreads around the Ruby Rapier, though from what I can determine they appear to be defensive formation at the moment, no doubt shielding their main command ship from possible attack, there are signs of engineers working on the ship already."

"What about the Titan's Wrath?"

"There are a larger number of Vanguards all around it, but from what I am able to determine, the Vanguards appear to be different from the former Vanguards that you ladies first dealt with."

Buzam was confused by that and so were the others and Cortana decided to elaborate a bit more as more information made it's way to her.

"The Vanguards that come from the Titan's Wrath appear to be larger and better armored from what I can scan and appear to be carrying a number of weapon systems that appear to be somewhat similar to the weapons we placed ourselves on the Vanguards but these appear to be a lot different as well, most of the weapon systems are fairly standard along with a number of close combat weapons, the same way our own force of Vanguards have. These Vanguards however are not the same, judging by the way these were designed….I'd say that these are the more powerful versions than the Vanguards you ladies fought with before. I don't have any other details but from what I can estimate with the already existing data that I was able to gather, those new Vanguards appear to replicate the ones we have AFTER we gave them the upgrades that they needed though those features appear to be built into the Vanguards instead of being added."

"What's you're opinion Cortana?"

"Well, despite not getting the chance to look into one of those new Vanguards, I'd say that these new versions are not to be underestimated for any reason,, my guess is that those new Vanguards might have been secretly developed or had been created after the whole Ikazuchi incident so that would explain why these models appear to be better armed and armored. They might not be doing anything yet but be on the defensive while another half of them appear to be working in fixing the damage done to the Titan's Wrath."

Magno weighed their options, there before them was a pair of two powerful ships and both ships as well as their crews could be potential allies in the war with the Harvesters. However they would have to tread carefully here, one wrong misstep could lead to a disaster and while their ship would be able to defend itself well enough, they couldn't afford to open fire on either ship as both were too valuable to attack, but also too dangerous to ignore. Both ships might be damaged, but the elderly woman was not going to take any risks at the moment.

Belvedere however detected something else on the surface of that world that both the Ruby Rapier and the Titan's Wrath and while she was not able to determine for sure what it was, there was one thing that she knew for a certainty…

It was huge…

"Captain….I'm picking up a reading of something very large down there on the planet's surface, whatever it is, it's huge."

That got the attention of the others for the moment and Magno wondered just what else could be going on before them at this moment, and decided for them to determine what it was first, Buzam moved over to Belvedere and spoke to the blonde bridge crew member.

"What exactly is it Belvedere?"

"I'm not sure….but I was doing a routine scan of the planet with some of the sensors that were not trained on both the Ruby Rapier and the Titan's Wrath, and then I picked up some sort of energy signature, I checked it out and found this massive form in the area."

Buzam turned to Magno and the elderly woman spoke.

"We'll deal with that later BC, right now we still have to deal with both the Ruby Rapier and the Titan's Wrath. As soon as we deal with…."

Belvedere cried out a bit more as she finally got an image of the energy source….it was a ship….

But totally unlike ANY ship they had ever seen before in their lives, as the blonde bridge operator brought the image on screen, the rest of the bridge crew saw what she had seen.

The ship was MASSIVE, it could easily dwarf both the Ruby Rapier and the Titan's Wrath easily, though covered by massive growth due to the ship being in a location that resembled a swamp area of sorts

Cortana gasped as she recognized it, in her time in the city of High Charity, before she was left behind by John when he went after the Prophet of Truth, and when she had dueled with the Gravemind, she had been able to speak to Mendicant Bias, or at least a portion of the once advanced Forerunner A.I and managed to gain a great deal of insight into the Forerunners and therefore recognized the ship and she knew that she was not going to be the only one who would recognize the wreckage of the ship that was before them .

John recognized the ship well enough and he recalled the battles he had been in when he was onboard the ship when he was teleported there by the Gravemind after the leader of the Flood had taken full command over the teleportation grid system of the Delta Halo Ring to stop the ring from being fired by the Covenant Loyalists during the schism in the ranks of the Covenant that led to the Sangheili joining the UNSC and founding the Covenant Separatists. While he was no expert on what that ship was in full detail, he was well aware of the power the ship possessed as well as the danger it presented.

Catherine, due to her time in the Onyx Shield World had been able to recognize the ship and so did the rest of the group that had been on Onyx as well, though Catherine was the one with the higher level of knowledge and understanding of what sort of ship it was before them due to her time with the Forerunner AI Joyous Rebirth in learning more the Forerunners.

Magno gaped at the sight of the ship, it resembled a lathe tripod of sorts and was truly massive, despite the undergrowth that covered it. She had never seen anything like it before in all her life. Whoever made that ship in her mind must have plenty of resources and power to have been able to make such a massive ship. But in her mind, there was NO way this behemoth of a ship could belong to any human civilization, there was something….undeniably alien about that ship as it stayed there on it's side.

Buzam herself was shocked by this sight and spoke out…

"What is that thing?!"

Cortana replied as even she was awed by the sight before her.

"That is a Key-ship…a Forerunner Dreadnaught…but I though that the one used by Truth to go to the Ark was the last of it's kind…."

Magno managed to get her wits back and spoke seriously to Cortana.

"What do you mean Cortana? What is that thing?"

Catherine spoke seriously.

"That's a Forerunner Dreadnaught Captain Magno and is considered to be one of the most powerful Forerunner warships in existence. I learned about this kind of ship back on Onyx, it possesses armor that could withstand enough damage to literally place any other ship into oblivion and enough high energy weaponry to dwarf even the most numerous fleet to shame. From what I understand of it, the Forerunner made extensive use of energy based weapon systems, and I'm not talking about lasers either, but pure plasma weapons as well as various grenade weapons and Pulse Beams, more powerful and deadly than any laser and can easily shred through living bodies like they were tissue paper, they also used highly advanced shields that could withstand ridiculous amounts of damage. There's no doubt in my mind that the Forerunner Dreadnaught before us would easily wipe out the full might of either Tarak or Megele in minutes."

Buzam gaped at the implications of this and spoke.

"Surely you can't be serious Dr. Catherine…"

Catherine looked serious and replied.

"I am serious, while we were there in the Shield World, I had Joyous Rebirth copy me a data archive concerning the Dreadnaught."

The UNSC scientist took out a data chip and walked over to Cortana and spoke to her…'daughter' gently.

"Go ahead and play it Cortana."

"I understand."

As soon as the data concerning the Forerunner Dreadnaught came to view, Dr. Catherine began to explain what else she knew of the ship before them all.

"From what I learned, that ship could carry a crew of thousands and enough supplies to feed a solar system worth of beings for a decade or more, and that is just a fraction of it's full carrying capacity. It's supposed to weigh at least 37, 654 tons in all and be at least 14 kilometers across, dwarfing any ship in either UNSC Navy or that of the Covenant Navy. It has a power output that could power an entire planet's cities for untold years and that's only at a fraction of it's normal power output. It has a large number of engine rooms, no doubt nearly a hundred or more and thousands of other rooms as well."

John nodded as he spoke.

"I saw a Key-ship as well Captain, during the war, the Covenant Loyalists and their forces used it and their forces to go to the Ark, the Fleet back on Earth unleashed everything they had on a ship like that one before us, they unleashed hundreds of missiles and a salvo of four MAC rounds…and it didn't even come close to stopping it at all, let alone damage it."

Catherine then spoke about something that she had to admit angered her somewhat.

"And what is more interesting….is that the Forerunners made very extensive use of Powered Assault Armor which they called Combat Skin. They have a ranking for it as well, from Class 1 to Class 18 with Class one being a basic system to the Class 18 being the pinnacle of all around combat protection, function, and survival, being considered as near invincible. So much so….that it makes even the MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor that I developed look weak."

Catherine didn't have a happy look and it was due to the MJOLNIR series being something of a great achievement of hers and to have it being registered as ineffective grated on her nerve.

As for John and Fred, the two of them had to admit that if there was something more powerful than the MJOLNIR, they would be more than happy to try it out. For now however, the de facto leader of the Spartans preferred to use the suit that he now had at the moment, while the highest ranking Spartan officer placed those thoughts as side due to the sensitive situation that they had found themselves in.

The implications of this information was not lost to the rest of the crew of the Nirvana, to actually know that there before them was an alien ship that could easily possess more than enough firepower and technology to make the forces on their home system look like toys was very unsettling, but what the Master Chief was going to say next was really going to be a dead rigner.

"Captain….I must insist that we do not allow anyone to get their hands on that ship and whatever salvageable technology and data is still on it."

Magno looked at the Master and asked a simple question.

"Why?"

The Spartan already had thought everything through ever since they discovered the massive vessel and what could be the results if anyone got their hands on it.

"If either your people on Megele or Tarak get their hands on even a fraction of the technology and data there, they could use it to wipe each other out and that would have been for nothing. Or if another civilization were to get it, then who knows that they could so with it. We can't be sure that all the human colonies and their people in the galaxy at this moment are aware of the Harvesters even if we have already dealt with Rabat or what their agendas are at the end of the war with the Harvesters, what if they use the data for their own ends? Or worse….the Harvesters get their hands on it…if they do, they could have access to information, schematics, design plans that would push their technological edge to the limits, they could develop weapons and units that would be difficult to stop…"

"Or worse….they could get their hands on the ship itself and reactivate it….that would give them a weapon that would wipe entire battle fleets, and with what they already have, they would be unstoppable."

That made Magno and the others realize just what they had to deal with before them, here was a truly alien warship that had more than enough power to dwarf the combined might of the Megele Navy or any other Navy existing in their dimension, and it would also contain a huge amount of technology and data. The possibilities that would occur if the ship was claimed were limitless in scope….and so was the danger.

If the people on either Megele or Tarak got their hands on the ship and what was inside of it, then they would use it for their war, but they would bring it to the scale of total annihilation, something that they could not afford since the Harvesters were coming, and the Master Chief was right in saying that other human civilizations may have other agendas that could work against fighting the Harvesters.

And the mere thought of the Harvesters getting their hands on such a juggernaut of a vessel and the data inside of the ship was truly terrifying. It had taken a GREAT deal of luck, planning, and sheer desperation for them to defeat one Harvester Battle Ship, and there were no doubt more of the vessels that the Harvesters had at their disposal, as well as their ever updating forces and their ground forces, if they got their hands on the data and the ship itself….then nothing could stop them from harvesting the organs of every human colony.

Magno looked at the information and thought of the implications of it all and spoke solemnly to the Master Chief.

"What do you have in mind?"

"We need to get into the ship and locate the main command console, get the ship back online and then purge the data archives completely, delete everything that could be used by the Harvesters or anyone else for that matter."

Catherine then replied.

"We should preserve that information John, we're talking about a massive amount of information here and if we preserve it, it could help protect humanity, give them a fighting chance when the time comes."

"Ma'am…are you sure about that?"

"Yes I am, I know I'm asking a lot, but the information the Forerunners left behind is too valuable to be destroyed and in the right hands, could do some great good in the universe, and it will keep it away from those who will use it for their own goals or for genocide."

John considered it and nodded.

"All right, we'll copy as much data as we can manage to take with us, and if we have the chance take the technology there that we can carry in the Nirvana to keep it out of enemy hands, but since we can't stay here with the Harvester Armada making their moves on the colonies, then we should destroy the ship completely, leave no trace of it for anyone to find or anything worth salvaging, there must be no debris left of that key-ship."

Buzam then spoke.

"You want to destroy the ship?! Master Chief, if what you and Dr. Catherine said is true, then even if we do use all our combined arsenals here on the Nirvana, then we'd still barely make a dent in that ship, we don't have that kind of fire power."

Cortana nodded.

"The Commander's right John….there's no way that we can destroy that Key ship even if we use every weapon in our arsenal. Besides, if we do manage to somehow destroy that behemoth of a ship, there's no telling just how big of a bang we could be causing. And if we need to destroy every inch of it, then we're going to need some REALLY serious ordnance."

John nodded and replied.

"We already have it…or at least, the plans."

"What do you…no, John, you CAN'T be serious about that are you?!"

"I am."

Magno and Buzam wondered what Cortana was saying and it was Amarone spoke out the question.

"What sort of weapon are you talking about?"

The Master Chief replied.

"Have you ever heard of a bomb powerful enough to literally split a planet in half?"

Magno and Buzam looked at the Master Chief and wondered just what was the Master Chief driving at and it was Dr. Catherine, seeing that this was by far the only viable option they had at the moment in denying the Harvesters or anyone else, who explained the basics, though she kept in mind that what she was going to tell the others from Megele and Tarak was considered a UNSC secret so she decided to rely only on the basics.

"The weapon that John is talking about is known to the UNSC as the NOVA Bomb and is considered the most powerful weapon the UNSC arsenal, it basically is a cluster of 9 nuclear fusion warhead cores sealed in a special material casing. Basically, when the NOVA is detonated, the casing contains all the released explosive energy and focuses it in itself, making the explosive energy a hundred times more powerful than before. This blast is powerful enough to destroy fleets and celestial bodies."

That was when Kelly spoke as soon as she walked into the bridge in her normal tone with a considerable amount of wit with her to spark things up.

"The NOVA Bomb's also known by another name, and this is Planet Killer, I can't believe we're actually going to use one of those, you really sure that will be enough Squad Leader?"

John actually had no idea, but the NOVA was the only weapon he knew of that packed such destructive force, if that was the kind of fire power needed to prevent the Forerunner technology and that Dreadnaught out of enemy hands, then so be it, that ship cannot remain intact.

"We have no choice, we can't bomb it from orbit and we can't stay here long either just in case the Harvesters launch an attack on the rest of the human colonies while we're here. Besides, the ship might be run by an Ai, but there's no telling that other dangers might be found on that ship and what could happen."

Kelly then spoke to the Master Chief who was her closest friend and commanding officer.

"Can we take the ship with us? If it's on our side then we can have a serious advantage over the Harvesters."

John thought about that, if the ship was on their side, then they would have a tremendous advantage over all the opposition before them, however, he knew from experience that the Key Ship was a massive vessel and no doubt would be a valued asset, but the fact was that there was no way they could take the ship with them and maintain operations with it, they would need a crew of nearly thousands and there were too few of them to teach the others how to read Forerunner symbols along with the language, then there was the fact that the technology and data on this ship would be too valuable to be left alone in it and would make too tempting a target for the Harvesters or other groups with dark agendas to pass up. Not to mention the ship might have the chance of being infested with the Flood.

It was a remote possibility, but one the Master Chief was not going to take chances with, he mentally shuddered at the thought of the Flood making their way into this dimension and causing all sorts of havoc.

"I don't think so Kelly, we don't have the crew to man that thing, and we're not sure what shape the Key Ship might be in…and there is a chance that there could be Flood Infections onboard that ship, we cannot let it remain there so we have to destroy it at some point. That is too valuable a resource, but also too dangerous to leave behind."

Cortana thought about it and Catherine did so as well, they understood the situation and decided that John did have a point, valuable as a weapon the Forerunner Dreadnaught may be, it was too risky to take with them if things went wrong and if the ship was in such bad shape then there's no telling what might happen.

Buzam looked at the Spartans as well as Mendez, Cortana, and Catherine with considerable surprise. When the shock began to wear off, she decided to ask the next question that she knew was going to no doubt throw her and everyone else listening into the conversation into a loop that no doubt would take a while for them to recover from.

"Just how big a yield does this NOVA Bomb have?"

Cortana replied.

"The standard NOVA bomb has a full yield of at least 36 Gigatons, and in old earth terms, that's equal to having 36 billion tons of TNT going off at once."

THAT got a reaction from Buzam and Magno as the elderly woman looked at them and then spoke.

"36 Gigatons?! And just HOW big is this NOVA Bomb?"

Catherine then replied.

"It's about the size of a large disc with nice clusters around it that house the fusion warheads. One or two men can carry it and arm it to detonate with a timer or with a trap system. I know that it sounds impossible and even I have to admit that using a NOVA sounds like….overkill, but the Forerunners built those ships to take tremendous amounts of abuse and there's no telling how much time and firepower we might waste if we tried using conventional methods to destroy the ship once we copy the data from the archives, then purge it's archive and take what we can. Personally I'm not even sure that one NOVA can be enough until we can get an idea of just how much damage the Key-Ship already has."

Mendez understood John's logic and supported the move, the Spartan I who had trained the Spartan IIs and the Spartan IIIs then spoke seriously.

"Then we'll put more than one NOVA in there, Spartan-117 is right, we can't leave that ship intact for whatever reason, we have to destroy it utterly."

That was when Celtic spoke.

"I know now is not the time….but shouldn't we deal with the Ruby Rapier and the Titan's Wrath first?"

Buzam looked at the screen towards the two ships, the vessels from both Tarak and Megele had not noticed them yet and had not made any moves on them or on each other at the moment, apparently the crews on the ships were still busy repairing and focusing on one another that they ignored the Nirvana as well as the behemoth ship that was right below them. The silver haired commander knew however that it was only a matter of time before both vessels got into a fight once more and that was going to make things a heck of a lot worse than they really needed to be.

With that in mind, she spoke to the others.

"Celtic's right, we still need to put a stop to both the Titan's Wrath and the Ruby Rapier, they might be able to help us, plus we could use their support if we are to go back to Tarak and Megele, it's risky, but we should intervene before they get enough momentum to destroy one another."

Magno nodded at that and decided to get things underway, hopefully they were going to make the right move, as soon as they prevented a massacre here between the people of both their world and that of the men, then that would be much better for all involved.

"All right, the time for hiding is over…Bart, Cortana, arm up your weapons and ready for anything."

Both nodded and got ready as Magno got in touch with Meia and Hibiki and as the Nirvana comes out of hiding to reveal itself, they know that the time has come to reveal themselves to both the Ruby Rapier and the Titan's Wrath, it was a desperate move, but hopefully they would be able to make both stand down and get ready, as there was no telling what could happen.

Magno and the others knew that sooner or later, there would be trouble as there was no doubt that the Harvesters would soon show up and they could only hope that they had enough time to get ready for them. Not to mention that the elderly woman had hope that even though this was not going to be easy, this could very well not just net them allies, but to also help heal the gap between men and women from their home system.

They all needed to stand united against the Harvesters, or else they would be wiped out one by one.

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Some distance away…

Several robotic eyes looked at the situation before them at the moment, the eyes were watching both the Ruby Rapier and the Titan's Wrath, observing the two ships to determine just when was the right time to strike as prime organs were up for grabs.

But then, they spotted two even bigger prizes, a massive ship trapped on the surface and a certain vessel that had been a thorn on their masters' side…

The Nirvana…

The eyes moved away from the shadows of a nearby floating asteroid that was filled with holes and the eyes belonged to a band of Cube Fighters. It seemed that the Harvesters were going to be there soon enough…

And they were ready to unleash the troopers they had created to slay the Spartans…and also to take their bodies for examination.

It seemed that this war was going to get even more hectic than before.

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To be continued…

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Author's Notes:

This is done, not too bad for an opening chapter, even if this one happens to be rather short, but I have to cut down on having too much text in my work anyhow.

Well now….it seems that the men of Tarak have MORE than just Vanguards in their arsenal, I would like to offer my personal thanks to one of my readers Hang Tuah for contributing the ideas that gave rise to the Titan's Wrath as well as the soon to be revealed expanded arsenals of not just the men of Tarak but also the women of Megele so the credit will go to Hang for the contributions made to the still growing story of VanDread Halo The Second Stage. There will be some needed modifications to the contributions to fit with my own plans but so far they appear to be able to work out well enough.

I also would like to thank Laser Crusader for the still growing patronage done to my works and also for the contributions that were given to me for the still expanding story of VanDread Halo The Second Stage. The contributions will soon be shown in the coming storylines and will be woven deeply into the soon to come ending of VanDread Halo The Second Stage.

Now as this chapter is finished, you can bet that things have gotten really heated now that the conflict is growing bigger.

Tarak and Megele will also reveal a greater deal of their military arsenals in VanDread Halo The Second Stage and it will be considered as well expanded material, and just like the expanded arsenal of the Harvesters, both Megele and Tarak will have some very unique forces that will only be found here in the story and not in either manga or the original anime.

And to really throw in the monkey wrench, the next chapters will have the Harvesters unleash their newest terrors, all made to deal with the Spartans in particular.

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For those of you who are familiar with Halo Lore, then the NOVA Bomb should be familiar to you all so I don't need to explain all the details and schematics on this UNSC Weapon of Mass Destruction. But for those who are not familiar with it, I'll provide the details.

The NOVA Bomb was the creation of Vice Admiral Danforth Whitcomb and is actually nine fusion warheads that are encased in a lithium triteride shell. As soon as the NOVA Bomb is detonated, the lithium shell contains the blast well inside itself. By doing so, the contained release of energy grows to at least 100 times than normally possible had the nuclear warheads been detonated separately and in a normal fashion. The weapon was originally designed as a trap that Covenant would be curious enough to take with them for study to their supposed home planet, something that the Vice Admiral wanted to happen, though if that didn't work, it would ensure that the Covenant would suffer massive losses before they could get to attack Earth.

The sheer power of this weapon which is considered to be the UNSC's only Weapons of Mass Destruction or WMD has named it the 'Planet Killer' but due to the slowly depleting stock of weapons grade nuclear material in the UNSC-Covenant War, the order to deploy a NOVA Bomb into battle was considered to be a sign of great desperation and is considered to be serious matter for such a destructive weapon to be called into battle.

Apart from being used in the novel Halo: First Strike, the next mention of the NOVA Bomb being used was in the Battle over the second discovered Halo Ring and the quarantine of the now Flood Infested High Charity as Cortana contacted UNSC High Command to deploy a NOVA to eliminate High Charity, however that request was either denied due to the dwindling nuclear supplies they had at the moment as well as the need to defend the Inner Colonies that remained safe, or was accepted but due to High Charity entering Slipspace before the NOVA could be brought to bear though this is impossible due to the ease of spotting a nuclear weapon when coming out of transit from Slipspace.

Now I'm no nuclear weapons expert, but essentially one nuclear fusion warhead that is used in the NOVA Bomb (at least by my own estimates and perceptions of the kind of nuclear warhead used in the NOVA Bomb) is a 40 megaton nuclear warhead.

40 megatons is equal to 40 million tons of TNT, now that is a LOT explosive force, now since the NOVA Bomb has 9 fusion warheads encased in the specially made lithium triteride shell that form the bomb then it would translate to this setup.

9 X 40 Megatons X 100 = 36 Gigatons

36 Gigatons is equal to at least 36 billion tons of TNT…if that doesn't blow up the Forerunner Dreadnaught, then I don't know what will.

But this should be fun!!!

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Here's something for you all to enjoy, it's short but interesting…

The Megele soldiers accompanying the Spartan IIs and Spartan IIIs as well as the Tarak soldiers could only gasp as they saw the massive frame of the Forerunner Dreadnaught, they though that their worlds ships were far better than the other….but this monstrous ship was something else.

"By Grand Pa….that is one BIG Ship!"

"By Grand Ma….it's HUGE."

Ash groaned and turned his head to face the two forces and spoke.

"Hey! Quit your yapping and get to work, we don't have the time to look like a bunch of idiots!"

The women growled and so did the men and it seemed that a fight was going to happen but then John shouted.

"ENOUGH!!"

As soon as things calmed down as the de facto leader of the Spartan IIs glared at the group, the Master Chief gave several signals to Kelly and Linda, both nodded and moved in and so did Fred as John turned to the others and spoke.

"Need I remind you that in least then four hours, a Harvester assault fleet is going to come in and wipe us out, and if they do and get their hands on this ship and everything inside it…then it's all over for everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, do I make myself clear?"

The Spartan IIIs nodded and so did the two groups and the Master Chief nodded as he spoke to his COM Link.

"This is Spartan Blue team to Horsemen-071, we need the NOVAs here ASAP."

"On it Chief!"

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See you on the next chapter!


	7. Chapter 7

VanDread Halo The Second Stage

Disclaimer: I don't own either VanDread or Halo so let's leave it at that all right?

Chapter 5

Part 2

Blast from the Past

( ): Thoughts

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In the Nirvana...

The Master Chief checked his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle for any damage or left over dirt, gunpowder residue and more, making sure that his weapon was up to snuff. As soon as he was sure that his weapon was in the clear, the Spartan took the weapon in hand and grabbed a pair of M7/ Caseless Submachine Guns with the ammunition and clipped both weapons on the magnetic thigh pads on his Paeksis enhanced MJOLNIR Mark 6, he also took as much ammunition with him as well as several Frag and Plasma Grenades.

As he checked his gear, he was greeted by Fred and Kelly, both his fellow Spartans were already armed with their own weapons, Fred never went anywhere without his trusted Combat Knife which was strapped to his left shoulder, though John noted he carried yet another Combat Knife held in place on his back as well as a BR55 HB SR Battle Rifle along with an M6G Magnum. Kelly carried an MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle and a M90 Shotgun on her back.

They were soon joined by Linda who carried her long time friends, a BR55 HB SR Battle Rifle and the SRS99D-S2 AM Sniper Rifle already on hand. The Spartans were to act as security detail for Captain Magno, Buzam, and Gascogne in the Forward Unto Dawn training hall which was going to serve as neutral ground for the officers of the Ruby rapier and the Titan's Wrath to meet and talk.

Technically the Nirvana was neutral ground for the officers to go to since the men would never set foot on the Ruby Rapier nor would the women set foot on the Titan's Wrath. So the Nirvana was the only logical choice. Of course logic took a side seat with politics as the Spartans knew that the very second the two parties came on the ship; they were not going to like the idea that men and women were working together on the Nirvana.

They were not politicians by nature or by choice, they were warriors, super soldiers, they left politics to the officers who knew about it, the members of ONI who they worked with before, and to the civilian leaders. The only things John and his fellow Spartans concerned themselves with was dealing with the next threat looming on the horizon, as the old saying went. They were familiar with the highs and lows of politics due to their education back on reach but never bothered with the details all that much.

However, they knew that with the gender wars between Tarak and Megele was going to be a serious sour point in the discussions between the officers of both the Ruby Rapier and the Titan's Wrath, there was no telling how this was going to turn out for both men and women. John mentally shook his head at that, he recalled the very tense meeting between the Eridanus Rebels and their group and what happened afterwards when the Covenant came at them.

He hoped that never happened again, he had no love for the Rebels due to their terrorist tactics though he never hated them deeply. He did what he knew was right at that time so he was not bothered by this. However this meeting was going to be different...they were going to try and convince two sides to join forces against a common threat, sounds simple enough at first, but when one realized that both were of the different genders, one had to think over the whole thing properly.

John put those thoughts aside for now...he and his Spartans had a job to do and they were going to do it as best they could.

Of course the Spartan IIs were not going to be the only security detail as Mendez and the Spartan IIIs were going to be around as well as the Nirvana's Security Teams, the Spartan IIs and the Security Teams would serve as the official security detail while the Spartan IIIs armed with their SPI Mark 2s would be the covert detail, making sure that nothing bad was going to happen while the supposed meeting was going to happen.

The Spartan IIIs were not happy with the idea, but Tom, and Lucy prevented them from complaining too much and they were already doing their work and were equipped with their MA5K Carbines and BR55 HB SR Battle Rifles though Mark was better armed with the same SRS99D-S2 AM Sniper Rifle that Linda carried most of the time. The Spartan IIIs took defensive positions around the hall earlier with their SPI Armor already masking their movements so as to avoid detection.

"Everyone ready?"

"Ready to go Squad Leader."

John nodded at that as they moved out to meet up with the others, the shuttles from both the Ruby Rapier and the Titan's Wrath were already underway towards the Nirvana under full escort of course. The crews of both ships were not going to trust the pirates with their high ranking officers and there was no doubt in the Master Chief's mind that the men and women of both Tarak and Megele had their weapon system trained on them and no doubt those weapon systems were primed ready to fire the very second things went ugly.

That was why the Nirvana had been on full alert and all Dreads were out in force, along with the Vanguards that had been modified as well as every Longsword Fighter that Cortana had at her command, the former UNSC AI was currently in the bridge along with Bart, ready to open up the MAC Cannons and Bart ready with the Plasma Cannon batteries at the ready. They were hoping not to use them in battle, but one had to be ready.

Naturally the Clarion Spy Drones were deployed to form a sensor net around the area, just in case the Harvesters decided to show up unexpectedly, the Nirvana engineers, as well as Parfait, Cortana, and Catherine had worked on improving the sensor systems of the Drones for better abilities as well as range. They would serve to warn them of incoming danger and that was going to be key for them all.

As the Spartans made their way to their duty areas, they couldn't help but wonder just how the men from the Titan's Wrath would react to seeing women for the first time in their lives and vice versa, one thing was for sure in their minds. Things were going to be far from dull.

The Talvernians did their duties well enough and were already out there in the Vanguards as well to support their Megele allies, those who were not out in force with the Vanguards were working with the Nirvana Fire Teams to tighten the security for the meeting, while the Spartans would serve to guard the meeting area, the Nirvana Fire Teams would be nearby to keep an eye on the escort force of both parties alongside the Security Teams.

There was no doubt that the two parties from the ships were going to be causing friction, for the women on the Nirvana, they had gotten used to being around men and they owed their lives and survival to men, men such as Duero, Bart, John, and Hibiki, along with the men who were from Talvern, and now with the Spartans who were male as well. The Megele pirates had to find ways to keep the peace without showing favoritism to either side. This was needed in order to maintain the neutrality of the Nirvana....not an easy thing as well.

That was when Dr. Catherine came to them and she was greeted by them with an abrupt salute.

"Ma'am."

Catherine smiled at the four Spartans who she had known since they were children and replied.

"You can stand at ease Kelly, Fred, Linda; John….there's no need to salute me in anyway."

The Spartans nodded at that and John spoke.

"Is there something wrong Ma'am?"

Catherine shook her head at that.

"Nothing for you to worry about John, however I do have these to give you."

John looked as Catherine took a small container that he could see had the UNSC Medical Corps symbol on it. The Spartan looked at Catherine for an answer as to why he was given these and she replied.

"Those are specially made medicine for Captain Magno's medical condition, I looked at her medical records and the medicine here will help her deal with possible attacks, and I have a feeling that the stress of the meeting might aggravate her condition."

John nodded and took the pills.

"Thank you Ma'am, Captain Magno will like this."

Catherine nodded at that and replied.

"I'll be working with Duero for the time being in the Medical Bay and later with Cortana so I will be busy. You should get going John, you're needed there."

"Yes Ma'am."

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The news of the discovery of the Forerunner Dreadnaught had swept the entire Nirvana and there was plenty of gossip going around about the ship itself. The idea of an actual alien warship on the surface of the planet below them was more than enough to send tongues wagging among the crew. Long ago the idea of aliens being found was something of a dream for mankind, but when they colonized the worlds they now lived in, mankind realized that they were not going to be able to find any. So the idea of aliens faded away from all people's minds.

However, the discovery opened new doors to the minds of everyone in the ship...Duero was eager to see what sort of medical knowledge the Forerunner had with them as he was a Medic and healer. Barnette was curious what sort of weaponry the Forerunners had, Jura was curious what sort of beings they were as she had never heard of the Forerunner before, Parfait herself was eager to study the data of the Forerunners in full as the ideas she could gain in designing new mechanical devices from the archives of the Forerunners was too much for the engineer in her to ignore. In short, everyone on the Nirvana were deeply eager to send out a team to see this alien vessel as soon as they got the go ahead from the Captain and BC to head to the surface of the planet and do a full scale analysis of the ship and do what they could with it and all the possible troves of data and resources they could get.

However, they were aware that the Spartans would be the first to go down there to scan and clear out the ship, while there were so signs of life on the ship, the Spartans were taking no chances on the matter and had forbidden anyone to go to the surface until the meeting was concluded. They knew that the Spartans, namely John himself had good reason to forbid them, and therefore they waited for the time to make their move, as well as keep an eye on the men of the Titan's Wrath and the women of the Ruby Rapier from trying to send forces down there to cause trouble. It was a tall order, but it had to be done since there was no other way to get things going at this point.

Of course the Nirvana's resident alien enthusiast was ecstatic over the discovery of a real alien ship. To actually know there was a real alien ship there on the surface of the planet was more than Dita could ever hope for. Which was why she was currently talking to a certain young man to get a chance to go down there and see the ship with her trusty camera, however, the young man in question was not budging on the matter just yet.

"Come on Mr. Alien...."

"No..."

"Please, I just want to go down there..."

"Absolutely not."

"Come on Mr. Alien...."

Hibiki was looking at Dita and trying his best not to break orders and do what she was asking of him so she would stop it with the whole sad puppy dog eyes routine as some of the Talvernian men called. But it was hard work for the young man as Dita was doing very good a job in trying to sway his opinions on the matter.

However, he kept in mind that there was no order for him to go down there, until they were sure that the ship in question was safe to approach, there was no way he was going down there. He was interested in seeing this ship up close, having seen the image of it there on the surface himself he was feeling this desire to go and see this vessel himself.

However he knew that until he got the order, he was not making any moves since he was not planning to make a mess for him to get chewed over by either the Master Chief and Franklin Mendez as well, besides there was no way he was going to bring Dita to a situation that was going to be too dangerous for her to handle alone by herself, and the idea of placing the innocent redhead into harm's way was the last thing that Hibiki wanted to happen. Of course he knew that it was going to take a lot of convincing from him to tell Dita that now was not the right time for her to go wandering off on his own. Besides that, there was the fact that they were both needed in space in order t counter any possible attack that can be launched by the Harvesters.

"Dita....now is not the right time for this you know."

Dita pouted at that and spoke.

"I can make you a really delicious meal once you bring me down there Mr. Alien."

"Are you tempting me Dita?"

Dita blushed and nodded as she replied.

"I k-k-know it's wrong Mr. Alien....but I've dreamed of this all my life....so see something that belongs to REAL aliens is a dream come true for me. I can't possibly miss this chance...."

The way Dita looked at that moment tested Hibiki's control...he had the urge to do something to make her dreams come true, but he was not going to take a risk that could get them in trouble or worse. That was when Jura herself showed with Misty and Barnette along for the ride and the way the blonde looked at him made him feel that something else was going to happen soon enough, something he knew he was not going to look forward to all that much.

Jura spoke then to the two of them.

"You guys are pretty much into this whole thing about that ship right?'

Hibiki raised an eye brow at that, this was something he thought Jura would not take an interest in and he spoke that thought to Jura.

"We are, Dita's been asking me to take her down there, but..."

"You don't want to, that's nice to hear, I get the feeling that there's more to that ship than just a crashed vessel."

"Why are you asking anyway Jura?"

The blonde smiled and replied.

"Just call it idle thoughts, if you're going down there, then I want to come along, besides, it's not every day a woman from Megele gets to see a real alien ship after all. Besides, that ship might have a lot of rooms so there's no doubt a good deal of privacy there."

Dita glared at Jura in jealousy as she was aware of the double meaning in Jura's words, that same thought was in Misty's mind as well, while Barnette sighed and shook her head at this, even with things as they were, Jura still wanted to go ahead and have a baby with Hibiki, she hoped that soon her friend would get her wish so that would be the end of it for now. However Jura spoke a lot more seriously.

"All that aside, I'm happy you two didn't decide to sneak off, it would be a heck of a mess if you did. This is dead serious stuff....for the first time; men from your world are meeting women from mine and Barnette's. This is a good moment, but filled with dangers too."

The others looked at Jura in shock at how serious the blonde Dread pilot had become, and she noted that well enough, she smiled a bit, replying in answer.

"Don't look at me like that, I might act vain and flighty most of the time, but I'm not stupid nor blind to what's going on....we have to do what we can as soon as the officers from the Titan's Wrath and the Ruby Rapier get here....a lot of things hang on this so we should do all that we can to make this moment work. We need all the help we can get if we're going to win this war with the Harvesters and this is too good a chance to pass up."

Hibiki couldn't help but impressed by that and so were the others, they knew Jura was right in that regard. As they looked out at the ships coming their way, Dita spoke once more.

"Maybe when this is all over....can we go down there Mr. Alien?"

Hibiki sighed and replied.

"Let me ask the Master Chief all right? It's up to him if he's all right with the idea. If he agrees....I'll take you down there, but promise me that you don't go around unless I am nearby all right?"

Dita nodded and Jura smiled even more and replied.

"Then you'll have to guard me and Barnette as well, because we're going along Hibiki."

--------

In the Hanger Bay...

Magno as well as her fellow pirate officers, flanked by the Spartans as she looked on as the shuttles from both ships began to go in, she hoped that this was not a trap, but she knew that they were ready for this moment, they had to be since they had taken a massive risk in their actions no less than an hour or so ago. The Nirvana had moved through the area and hailed both the Titan's Wrath and the Ruby Rapier to halt any possible fight between them, they used a Megele frequency with the Ruby Rapier and a Tarak frequency to the Titan's Wrath...

As soon as Cassandra saw them she was not happy to see her and her pirate crew again as she said that she had hoped that they would be already dead for their pirate acts on their former homeland's vessels and called her and her crew as nothing more than scavengers. This would have gone on until Magno spoke sternly to Cassandra, telling her that the only reason they revealed themselves is that they had something to discuss. The Megele leader replied that she didn't need help in dealing with the men, but Magno was not convinced, the images of the Ruby Rapier provided by the Clarion Spy Drones given to her by Cortana showed that the Ruby Rapier would need some serious repairs as the damage was more than even the best engineers could fix.

Magno pointed that out to Cassandra and the woman asked if she was now siding with the men, and she replied that she was not on any side on this kind of situation and the Nirvana was now neutral territory. The Megele officer wondered just what was she implying and Magno replied by stating that she was not going to let her and her crew be wiped out, but she was not going to help them defeat the men either, further confusing Cassandra as to what she was getting at. Magno then replied that a much more powerful threat was looming beyond the borders of Megele AND Tarak that she and her crew had seen and they knew that this threat was going to be something that they needed to deal with.

As soon as that was done, the men made their reply, though they sent their message via word communication and the pirates were confused for a moment until Bart translated and reminded the crew about how the men of his world thought of them as women and they agreed, though they were a bit amused at how seriously the men were taking the propaganda, Buzam however was dead serious about this and reminded them that they had a lot to do and now was not the time to be light hearted about it.

Magno then asked Bart to write the reply in their language and he did so, telling the men that they were not here to either fight them or help the crew of the Ruby Rapier even though they were women themselves. A minute or so later, the men replied and asked if that was the case, then why were they on a Tarak vessel such as the Ikazuchi.

It had taken some very creative bartering as well as some close calls until they were able to secure the assurances that the officers of both ships were willing to not only not try to fight one another while they were around, but to also come to the Nirvana and meet her and her crew for some important matters in the Forward Unto Dawn's main hall where the Spartans, namely Master Chief handled the briefing of the Nirvana Fire Teams. Magno knew that this was a crucial meeting and she knew that sooner or later, tensions were going to run high on the Nirvana.

She briefed the crew and reminded them of two important details that they needed to be aware of. The first was that unlike Hibiki, Bart, and Duero who had gotten used to being around them and the men of Talvern who were from a co-gender world, the men coming were from Tarak and had not been around women so as much as possible, they were not to do anything that the men would consider hostile action and make things even harder. She knew that it was a tall order for her crew, but it had to be done, they needed to make the two sides put aside their difference in light of the threat of the Harvesters. Duero volunteered to help and began to tell the crew what to do and what not to do that would anger the men before them, but warned them to be wary as some of the men might willingly try to goad them into something as these were not men to take lightly, being members of the Black ops forces of their world. And the second was to try to keep themselves from getting cornered by either side and interrogated or goaded into some action that would really get things in a bad way.

As soon as she was informed by Belvedere that the ships and their escorts had arrived to the Hanger, the elderly woman steeled herself for the soon to come word war between the men and women. The ships arrived before her minutes later and she could see the difference between her world and that of the men. The shuttle of the women was the same as that of their own shuttle, but the men was totally different in form as well as color scheme. The Tarak shuttle resembled that of a long spear blade with the back of the shuttle in the form of wings, she also could see that unlike the shuttle used by her and the women of Megele, the Tarak shuttle was actually armed with some defensive weapon systems.

This showed that the men were always on a wartime mind set, and that was something that both troubled and surprised Magno for that matter as this was the first time she was seeing how serious the men took the gender wars between their respective cultures and civilizations. She then watched as a number of Tarak soldiers came down from the shuttle where the male shuttle landed.

She could see that these men were indeed different from the recruits that she and her crew had dealt with before when they first took over the Ikazuchi. The men wore suits that had segmented battle armor on them that appeared to be similar to the design appearance of the Spartan' own armor as well as having the same similarities of the Spartan IIIs own SPI Mark II Armor. The armor was colored to match the sands of Tarak and no doubt was used as passive camouflage and no doubt would have been quite a problem to see in the sands of Tarak.

The Armor worn by the Tarak Security detail seemed to also have a pair of built in knife holsters on either the left or right side of the chest armor, and considering the length of the weapon sheaths, these were long and wickedly sharp bladed knives as well. The way the men moved despite their covering body armor told Magno that unlike the recruits and trainees that her pirates faced before, these men were better trained and no doubt better equipped, and the way they looked at her and the other women was brewing with suspicion and hostility despite the fact that they were wearing helmets that seemed to be similar to that of the Spartan helmets, though in this case it was sleeker and the visor was T-shaped, there appeared to be some sort of camera system added to the right side of the helmet which would serve as a way for the troopers to view the world without revealing their faces as the visors appeared to be dun brown in color, no doubt showing that the visors were made to look that way to add further passive camouflage to hide the men better.

On their armor symbol appeared to be a panther, similar to the ones she had seen in videos about what kind of native life there was on Old Earth and even those that were there on Tarak, but this creature was different as it seemed to have skin that not only resembled the sand patterns but had skin that resembled stones and rocks well and no fur. And like the panthers in the old records, this one feline...if it was even a feline by her standards was no doubt a deadly predator on the all male world.

(That must be a native species on Tarak of some sort.)

She then directed her attention to the weapons the men carried.

Their rifles were the same as those used by the men who had been part of the original crew of the Ikazuchi when they took over the ship in their previous raid, however the rifles were actually a bit slimmer in profile and seemed to have some sort of changes to them as well. For one thing, the lower portion of the Tarak Rifles before them appeared to have some sort of detachable package that resembled some sort of shotgun attachment, making this weapon a lot deadlier in close quarters combat, that and the fact that it had a built in flashlight on the side near the barrel and some sort of targeting system.

The men also carried what appeared to be some sort of sidearm along with several packs that were in the armor and no doubt either carried spare ammunition, grenades, or other things that the men had on them. The guards stopped and one turned to give some hand signals, military hand signals and this allowed Magno to see the back of the armor that the men were wearing.

Their backs were also well armored and seem to carry some sort of in built pack along with a smaller pack near the back. There appeared to be some sort of small antennae that was well hidden on top of the pack that seemed to be a bit odd to her until she guessed it must be some sort of COM system, the back pack was not taking all of the back and there appeared to be some sort weapon on the back that seemed to resemble some sort of light machine gun, or a squad assault weapon, or a SAW if she recalled the weapon terminology that she had heard the Spartans used with certain gear. This one man appeared to be carrying the SAW and would no doubt use it as a support weapon.

Due to the fact that Bart and Duero had talked to her about their world's culture, she could tell that the four small chevrons on one of the armored man's shoulder armor pads was that of a high ranking officer, but they were small indeed and only when they were closer could she see them.

It was not long before she looked at the Megele shuttle as it also landed, as it was the same as their own there was no difference though it being a military shuttle it had gun ports and better shields as well as armor plating to boot. The female soldiers who stepped out were not dressed in the regular uniforms that Magno knew the women military normally wore. These were special uniforms only worn by higher ranking female soldiers. The clothing was more figure hugging but was loose in some areas namely in the joints and there was armor plating there as well, it appeared to be sleeker in design and was not made to be thick, most people would have considered the armor plating on the Megele soldiers to be too thin for military use, but Magno knew that the women preferred mobility and speed over endurance and defense, the alloy was no doubt coated in some sort of ablative material that was designed to be light weight but tough as well.

The women carried the basic rifles of the Megele Army but these were somewhat shorter and were also a bit bulky in some respects, while they also had what appeared to be gauntlets with special lenses that Magno recognized as those used by Laser Rings, but while the Laser Rings they used were effective, these were used for more damaging attacks in battle as well as for greater impact force, they were also able to carry a considerable bit of sophisticated equipment and extra supplies without being weighed down. The armor was also designed to be armed with sophisticated sensors as well as specially made optical camouflage plates that would make the women harder to spot. This would set the women aside from the men since the men seemed to favor passive camouflage and defensive power over stealth and mobility.

Magno sighed as she recognized the symbol on the female soldiers' armor, that of the Banshee crying and knew that this was one of the elite combat units of her home planet, this was going to make things rather interesting to say the very least. The only good thing that came out of this was that men and women were going to meet one another for the very first time in their lives, and hopefully it would not end in a blood bath since this was the last thing they needed in the Nirvana. She knew that while this was going on, her crew would have to keep an eye on not just the Ruby Rapier and the Titan's Wrath but also on the possible appearance of the Harvesters, she had no doubt those organ hungry maniacs were still out there and itching to catch them.

As much as she wanted to leave the fact that this was too good a chance to pass up and Forerunner ship had to be dealt with before they could leave.

It was then that both officers of either side came out, Magno recognized Cassandra Royce easily enough while the other young leader of the side of the men of Tarak was not familiar to her. The man had deep blonde hair and deep blue eyes that were looking about with the air of a seasoned soldier and he certainly had the build of one, she was able to spot his name and saw that his uniform had the name tag of Marcus, but no last name.

Duero and Bart were nearby to talk to the men if need be, but right now, Magno was more worried about how things were going to turn out the very second the women and men were now facing one another.

Cassandra and Marcus looked at one another with considerable hostility as the two walked over to Magno. Before the elderly woman could speak, the young Megele commander spoke first.

"You've got some nerve showing your face here Magno Vivian...if it wasn't for the fact that my ship was in the middle of nowhere and in bad shape, I would be chasing you…."

Magno however gave a simple sigh and replied.

"You'd think that after all that happened, a young lady would be thankful that some help came along."

Cassandra glared and replied.

"You're kind of help I don't need….you and your crew are pirates, renegades and traitors to Grand Ma!"

Magno looked at Cassandra harshly and replied.

"Traitors? You have a lot of nerve calling me and my crew that Cassandra, need I remind you that it was due to your own mother's scheming that resulted in a good number of housing complexes on Megele being cut off from water and power? And one of those housing units happens to be mine."

That was enough to silence the female officer and Magno replied.

"I founded the pirates from those who were tired of the pointless squabbling, consumption and pettiness back there on Megele, this was out of necessity and protest for all the things that they had to deal with, and as far as I know, we have never harmed a single woman in our time as pirates, if we really were traitors, we would have not hesitated to kill the people on the ships we raided. I made a choice for myself in my age and others followed me for their own reasons, but one thing is present in all our reasons, we do not ever want to be forced to do something that we know is wrong. Don't ever call me or any of my crew as traitors ever again young lady."

Cassandra glared and Magno then turned her attention to the young man before her.

"And you are Commander Marcus, am I right?'

"How did you know that?"

"You're name tag on your uniform. Do you have something that you wish to say to me young man?"

"Nothing that you need to know. Why are you here and even more so, what are you doing taking what rightfully belongs to Grand Pa?"

Magno sighed as she could tell that this day was going to get difficult, but thankfully the two sides were not going to start a war here on the Nirvana just yet, that was the last thing that her crew needed at this point. For now, she counted her blessings and spoke once more to the gathered groups in front of her.

"If you wish answers, then come with us, we will discuss this matter in a more neutral ground. However I will have insist that you bring only a small security detail with you."

That was then Cassandra sneered and replied.

"Why? Afraid my Banshees will take over the ship?"

That was when the Spartans got into action, namely their commander as John spoke.

"I don't recommend that."

The Spartans were more than relaxed and held back from making any threatening motions to the Megele and Tarak soldiers, but the presence of the armored beings was now recognized by the two sides and that was enough to make them stop from their actions for the time being and that was something that Magno was happy for as she wanted this meeting to go well for as long as possible while they were not currently under attack by the Harvesters.

Cassandra spoke then, despite being surprised at the sight of the Spartan.

"Who….or what are you?"

"Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan-117 I am the Nirvana's combat specialist and commander of the Spartans here on the Nirvana, we will be part of the security detail for this meeting."

Magno smiled a bit and then it seemed that things were going to work out at least at this stage of the meeting.

--------

Later…

As the group made it into the Nirvana's inner halls, the silence was deafening for the time being as the only sounds were the foot falls in the halls as the officers of both the Titan's Wrath and the Ruby Rapier were escorted by their respective forces, the Security Teams and the Spartans as well. The Security teams were ready for anything and so where the Spartans as they were already prepared for anything that might happen while also protecting Magno. Buzam, and Gascogne as well. The Spartans were more than ready to react if they had to in a fight but they were not going to respond to anything without determining it to be hostile action.

John was busy cycling through the weapons he could see on the Tarak and Megele soldiers to make sure that he was able to get all of them on his visual memory when he noted that Kelly did a flick of her finger, it seemed like a simple gesture to some and was ignored by everyone else, including the pirates, but to John it was a different story.

Kelly's flick of the finger was part of the Spartan Language, something that only they were able to recognize, having been trained in it back on Reach by Dr. Catherin Halsey, SCPO Franklin Mendez, and the A.I Déjà, along with Cortana. That particular method of Spartan communication was only used in non combat situations and was known as the need to open a COM frequency between two Spartans. This way no one outside of their ranks and groups could listen into their conversations; this made the Spartan Language key to their success as super soldiers.

As soon as he activated his COM system, John was greeted by Kelly's voice.

"Squad Leader, there's something not right about all this."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, if these people are from two worlds that are at war with one another for who knows why, and are living in a system that is supposedly trapped in some sort of magnetic storm that prevents most ships from leaving, then how in the heck did they land here?"

John had to admit that Kelly had a good point in that regard and then the female Spartan who had been his best friend since their days on Reach spoke once more.

"Do you think they found a way to use Slipspace Drives?'

"I don't think so, Shaw and Fujikawa were not alive in this dimension and without them, there is no way for the people here in this realm to even hear of Slipspace let alone the development of the Slipspace Drive system, besides that the Nirvana is the ONLY ship that has a Slipspace Drive system."

"That's true….but maybe they were working on some sort of black ops project to develop some new technology, this is not the first time we've heard of something like that, we were created through it too remember?"

John knew what Kelly said was true, the Spartan II Program was a black ops program that created them so there was nothing against the possibility that the two sides MIGHT have been working on some sort of technology that would give them an edge in battle. Such tactics were not new in the fields of war and battle. The question was who was the one responsible for it, if either of the two sides were working on some sort of black ops project then who?

The first culprit would be the men of Tarak; the Titan's Wrath was considered to the result of a black ops ship construction project and was supposed to have been the sight of some seriously deadly weapon systems tests and more. If that is the case then despite what the women of Megele might think about the men of Tarak there was still a good chance that the men might have cooked up something. There might even be materials that were on Tarak that were not native to Megele as well so the men would have access to some matter of materials that the women would not have access to as well as the determination and drive as well to develop new technology.

And if it was not the men of Tarak, then it would be the women of Megele, who considering their extensive use of energy weapons and technology level were also capable of such a feat. They would have a better edge in doing so since they had the technological advantage along with the resources that might not be found on Tarak either, not to mention that from what he and the others had learned of Megele, despite the infighting and more besides, the women did have more resources and supplies than the men.

Either way, they each had a good chance of being able to provide answers as to why they were so far away from their own home-world. But there was no doubt in John's mind that they were not going to give up information like that to just anyone, the fact that Magno's crew were viewed as pirates on both sides would further compound the problem….however, there might be another way.

He then spoke to Kelly.

"There's truth to that, but we don't have enough data to work with for the time being so we can focus on other matters instead. We'll keep an eye on them and keep them from trying something that will bring danger to the ship and the crew. However, I would like it better if we were able to keep an eye on not just them but their crew. I wouldn't put it past those people to try and cause some trouble."

"I agree with you there Squad Leader, once they're in the main hall, I'll try and slip out and see if any of their crews might try something."

"Good, hold on."

John then flicked his finger to Fred and the Spartan was quick to pick the signal and soon John was greeted by Fred in the COM system.

"What's up Squad Leader?"

--------

In the Forward Unto Dawn's main hall...

Cassandra and her officer detachment as well as their body guards looked the place over and couldn't help but comment on the design of the Forward Unto Dawn as she looked at Magno as well as Buzam and Gascogne.

"This place seems to....drab and dull, how can you stand this style of construction?"

Buzam however replied.

"The Forward Unto Dawn section is part of a warship so the people who made it were not too concerned with looks."

Cassandra snorted and replied.

"We can see that....so why are we here?"

Commander Marcus of the Desert Panthers looked at Magno with a very serious look that was also mixed with some level of distrust though he and his command staff were staring at the Spartans who were there. The young Tarak Black Ops commander had never seen soldiers like them before as they were massive, nearly seven feet tall from the get go and were very intimidating, he had not expected to see men in the ranks of the women….if they were even men to begin with in there. He wondered if they were robots that were made by the women,

But that idea seemed too difficult to fathom, these….beings moved too fluidly and humanly to be robots, so what exactly were they?

He then placed that train of thought aside as he also wanted to know just what was going on here, ever since the disappearance of the Ikazuchi all those months before, the Tarak High Command had been working around the clock in order to get their forces back on track, though they had been able to recover all the men who were released by the pirates, the blow of losing the Ikazuchi had been felt all throughout the planet of the men and they wanted to gain their revenge on the women which was why the Titan's Wrath had been brought to full service once more to field test all the new and developing weapons technology that their world had.

And now the Ikazuchi returned, but in a much different configuration as well as massive changes and then these soldiers were with them, and he wanted to know just what was going on.

"I have….to agree….what is going on here?"

Magno sighed as she sat down and spoke.

"That is going to be a long story….but before this old woman tells you youngsters about what happened this past few months, know that in this whole time, we have encountered a force that seeks to take all human life out."

Cassandra and Marcus were surprised as well as those of their guard detail who accompanied them.

As for John and Linda, only they remained there in view while the Spartan IIIs were nearby, both Fred and Kelly had left earlier to keep an eye on things on the ship while the meeting was going on. They knew that there was a chance that some of the people from either ship might try something that would result in a serious mess; they were going to make sure it didn't get that far out of hand.

------

In the Hanger...

The situation in the hanger was fairly quiet for the time being, as the Security Teams maintained the situation while the Fire Teams also kept things relatively peaceful but at the moment, the Fire Teams assigned to the security of the Hanger were taking a break in another side of the ship, leaving one of the regular Nirvana Security teams to handle the situation for the time being. However it seemed that some of the men who were part of the security detail on the Titan's Wrath were going to make a move of their own on the women of the Nirvana as a group of them were moving towards the security team.

The women of the Nirvana eyed the men warily, hoping that they were not going to be dragged into some sort of altercation that they knew their Captain didn't need for the duration of the negotiations.

It was there that Kelly arrived, as a highly skilled Spartan, the Rabbit of the Spartan IIs was quick to size up the situation and despite her sheer size and height in the MJOLNIR Mark V that she wore, along with the fact that she was not as proficient with stealth as Joshua, Anton, or Linda, she was able to make her way to the site without being seen.

As soon as Kelly got there, she saw that the men were trying to get the women to try something against them with the use of insults as well as daring the women to fight them. And considering what she was hearing, the insults were the kind of lies that the men made about women, namely them being ugly monsters, cannibals and the like. It made her shake her head at that

She could tell that the women were able to keep their heads cool but the men were apparently different from the men of Tarak since they were hostile to the women while still wearing the armor they had on them, though the Spartan II could tell that the men were not using weapons as of yet, this was becoming something that had to be stopped at this moment before word of the situation leaked out.

"What's going on here?"

The Tarak soldiers moved back as Kelly looked at them very strongly, the Rabbit of the Spartan IIs was not happy to have seen the men trying to provoke several of the Security Teams into a fight to justify disrupting the meeting and cause chaos in the Nirvana with their lead officer being the one who started the mess. As soon as she was there before the men, she looked at the women behind her and she had to commend the Security Team girls who kept their cool and showed it as she smiled at them as she had taken her MJOLNIR' helmet off to show that she was not a man but a woman.

"You girls all right?"

The Security Team girls were surprised to see this as Kelly had smiled at them, coming from a woman who they knew was genetically and cybernetically enhanced to be the perfect soldier as well as having years of warfare experience under her belt as well as wearing such highly advanced Power Armor and carrying weapons that were deadly was a bit surprising, but their leader, a brunette with hair up to her shoulders nodded.

"Yeah....it's good to see you Ma'am."

Kelly smiled a bit more at that as technically she was of a high rank, but she then turned to the Tarak men and reverted to her Spartan face, the steely eyed gaze of a veteran warrior who showed resolve and skill in battle. She then spoke evenly to the Tarak men.

"What are you doing?"

The men backed away as they could tell, despite their arrogant nature and their skill, this was one woman who they couldn't afford to anger. However, the officer who started the mess was more than willing to reply.

"We were dealing with some of the women who were going to fight us. We were just ready to defend ourselves if they attacked us first."

Kelly didn't buy it for a moment, due to her enhanced eye sight plus the enhancements given by the MJOLNIR, she was able to see that they started it first, trying to goad the women by using insults as she could read lips as well as being close enough to hear said insults before moving in.

She had seen this before and had to give the man some credit, the only high ranking UNSC Marines who could stand toe to toe with of her comrade Spartans were those of the ODSTs and those who had worked with them before. But she could see that the officer was also wary of her and she played that to her advantage as she replied.

"I doubt that, Sir, I saw the whole thing before I came here, I know you started it, trying to cause trouble and then telling your commanding officer about it, doing that to those who are neutral on the matter between the crew of your ship and that of the crew of the Ruby Rapier is quite...well...foolish and idiotic."

The officer was livid as the female Spartan decided to reach out for a small can made from metal with one of her hands while she held her helmet with the other as well as cradling her helmet underneath her arm, she took the can and easily crushed it in a moment, making the men gasp a bit and she released it and placed it down on the table and spoke seriously to them.

"This is neutral ground and we are watching, so I suggest that you and your comrades don't try to cause trouble here, all right?"

The men backed away and left, while they looked at Kelly with some level of fear. Kelly saw that and while she was not happy with being like that when they were supposed to be working on gaining the men as allies to fight the Harvesters, she was relieved that she avoided an incident that would have complicated things. She placed back on her helmet and turned to the Security Team and spoke to their leader.

"You did all right there, not giving into their taunts."

The women nodded with a smile as they relaxed, they knew that Kelly was on their side and that was assuring to them despite their slight shock at seeing her unleash her strength in that moment when she crushed the can quite easily before them. Kelly then spoke to them seriously as she knew that while she had convinced the men to back off this time, there was no doubt going to be others who would try something bad that would really make things difficult while their higher ranking officers would be talking with the Captain.

The female Spartan decided to keep an eye on the men to make sure that they were not going to go about and cause even more of a ruckus on other parts of the ship.

--------

Of course, it wasn't just the men of Tarak causing trouble on the Nirvana...

--------

In one of the open areas of the Nirvana....

Several women from the Ruby Rapier's security detail were currently moving through the area, which unfortunately was where Hibiki was staying in at the moment as he was still waiting for his turn to take patrol duty which was why he was in his normal clothes for the moment. This made him the only man in the area and the women seeing that he was alone decided to see just what sort of man was before them.

Hibiki had no idea what was going on, but he managed to keep himself busy while working on one of his data pads to check his Vanguard's current repair status.

"Hey....is that really a man from Tarak?"

Hibiki turned to look at the women and he sighed, he recalled that the Master Chief had told him to keep his temper cool and avoid getting into a needless debate or fight with the women from the Megele ship, but now it seemed that he was going to have to deal with the unneeded company before him. The Tarak youth placed aside his thoughts and calmed his mind as the women began to close in on him of all people.

As soon as they were before him, one of the women commented.

"You know, this guy's kind of short."

The women agreed and that made a vein appear on Hibiki's head, while he had grown in height, it still annoyed him that they thought he was short, but he kept his cool as best he could and hoped to remain calm enough to avoid trouble. The women continued to talk about him and his people saying how inferior their technology was and more besides, and it was taking some considerable discipline for Hibiki not to lash out at the women, keeping in mind that letting them provoke him was asking for trouble with that situation as it was. But it certainly didn't mean things were any easier.

"What the hell is going on here?"

The women turned and there before them was one of the Spartans, in this case it was none other than Fred who removed his helmet and looked at the women with a very neutral expression. The Spartan revealed his face and they were surprised to see his pale skin and the black hair that was streaked with white, which according to Dr. Catherine was the result of the augmentation process that Fred was subjected to as well. While he had no knowledge of the Spartan himself, having only met him before he radiated the same aura as John did so Hibiki didn't feel threatened by the presence of the Spartan.

Fred then walked over to Hibiki and spoke seriously.

"You all right Hibiki?"

"I'm fine sir!"

Hibiki remembered that Fred as of a higher rank than the Master Chief and therefore spoke to him with respect and confidence, something that Fred himself respected as he nodded to Hibiki, silently telling the young man leave for now, he was needed elsewhere and thus didn't need to stay here any longer. Hibiki nodded as he knew that he was needed elsewhere after all, and needed to check up on his Vanguard as soon as possible, since they were currently on a state of readiness. However than didn't stop the women from insulting him once more.

"Look, the short barbarian is walking away? Afraid of us or something?"

Hibiki ignored that, after all he had undergone, he was not going to let any more insults get under his skin. Fred noted that and then replied as he faced the women.

"What seems to be the problem here?"

The women looked at the Spartan and they were trying their best to keep their control as the Spartan glared at them in a very dark fashion, the fact that there seemed to be little to no emotion in the man's pale as snow face was something that also served to make them rather uneasy. Fred then spoke seriously.

"You realize that what you are doing here at this moment is considered an attempt to goad others into a fight?"

One woman snorted and replied.

"What business is it of yours anyway, you stupid male?"

Fred didn't bat an eye lash and for good reason, he had been called much worse than that and he decided to reply.

"I am part of the security detail here on the ship of the Nirvana so it is my business, the only reason that I am not going to react the way you think I will is that unlike the one you were trying to goad, I am not from Tarak and I do not have any ties to the men from that same planet, so do not think that he and I are the same person."

"Oh yeah?"

Fred turned and then without any hesitation or show of discomfort, he punched a nearby wall and leaving a large fist sized hole there, that was enough to shock the women into silence and he turned to them, they were shocked that there was not even a single expression of pain, it was like looking at a statue that came to life but had no emotion to it at all.

The Spartan then spoke seriously.

"That by the way is a warning, you are in neutral territory and while you have issues with the men here on this ship who are from Tarak, keep in mind that this is no longer your ship, keep your bigotry in check and we'll get along well enough, don't, then you will have little time remaining here on the Nirvana."

With that, Fred placed back on his helmet that emitted a sharp hiss as it pressurized itself back on and the Spartan left the women alone for now.

--------

The men and women from Talvern were also dealing with such issues, but handled it well enough, having been with the co-gender crew of the Nirvana and also having worked together in their own world, they were more than able to deal with the actions of the men from Tarak and the women from Megele.

As for the crew of the Nirvana, being able to see their fellow Megele women was a mixed blessing, they were happy that they were here, but they were reminded how things had been before they took the men into their ranks. And for the men, they were not happy with the way their fellow men acted around the women, having grown to trust the women with their own lives.

--------

In the Forward Unto Dawn's main hall...

The images stopped as Magno and Buzam waited for the two commanders of both the Titan's Wrath and the Ruby Rapier to decide for themselves what they thought, they had revealed the images that highlighted the first encounter with the Harvesters and their forces first in deep space as well as onboard the ship as well as their forces that were seen in ground combat action as well. The elderly captain knew that this alone was not going to be enough to convince the two before her as they were going to be rather stubborn, a trait that all young people have as she knew that from her personal experience when dealing with her own crew.

She then spoke to them as well.

"As you can see, the Harvesters are the reason that we had originally taken in both Hibiki Tokai, Bart Garsus, and Duero McFile into our ranks here among the pirates. Bart is the only one that could pilot the ship as well as use the plasma cannon batteries, while Duero is by far one of the best doctors we have on the crew, and Hibiki's Vanguard plays a key part in the use of the VanDreads that give us a considerable advantage in combat when dealing with the massive numbers of the Harvester forces."

Marcus then looked at the Master Chief and spoke.

"What of him? He's not like any man I know of from our world."

Magno sighed at that and replied in a very serious matter, though she couldn't help but grin somewhat at them.

"Master Chief and his fellow Spartans are what you two might call a very special case, but the short end of it is that since they and their comrades are not subject to the rules and perceptions our two cultures have towards those of the opposite gender and they are trusted allies here on the ship. But before you think that the Spartans are all male, there are female Spartans as well. The reason that they are here is hard to explain for the time being so that will be for another time. However we have a much more pressing concern…and that is the ship wreckage that is on the planet below us."

The images then turned to the Forerunner Dreadnaught and the two officers and their guards were stunned to see the MASSIVE ship that was before them, Magno admitted that even though she had seen it before already, the sight of the massive Forerunner Dreadnaught was still very difficult to ignore as this was the largest ship that she had ever seen in her life, along with the fact that it was an actual alien ship. It still made her feel like she was going to pass out from the thought of it all.

It was then that both the officer spoke seriously.

"What is that ship?"

Buzam spoke then.

"That is a Forerunner Dreadnaught. According to the data that is an actual alien ship that is considered to be the most powerful warship in existence and could house a crew of thousands as well as carry billions of tones worth of supplies and equipment, it might appear to be badly damaged but the structural integrity is still there and carries enough fire power to defeat the entire home defense fleet of both Tarak and Megele."

"What?!"

Marcus and Cassandra were surprised, they had always thought that aliens were just fairytales in their own respective culture, but now before them was an actual alien vessel and quite a massive one, it was then that the idea taking the ship from the planet and taking with them to either of their home system came into their minds, they couldn't help but plan out how their respective side would be able to take the ship back home and the technology could be used to end the war between their worlds once and for all.

However, that particular train of thought was easily detected by the Spartans, namely by John himself and he knew that this train of thought was too dangerous for them to have in their heads and had to be removed before things got really bad. With that in mind, the Spartan tapped the table with his finger gently, but loud enough to get the attention of both Cassandra and Marcus.

John then spoke to both Marcus and Cassandra seriously.

"Neither of your sides are getting it....we're going to destroy it."

Marcus and Cassandra were shocked and the Tarak male was the first to stand up and speak to the Spartan.

"You have no authority to destroy that ship!"

"And neither do you Commander Marcus, that ship is not from either of your worlds and it is far too dangerous to leave intact, there are secrets there that are too valuable and dangerous to leave behind."

"Which is why we claim it in the name of Grand Pa!"

Cassandra then spoke as well.

"There is no way I am going to let you male savages get your hands on that ship and it's secrets! That ship and it's secrets rightfully belong to Grand Ma!"

Marcus turned and spoke to Cassandra with venom in his voice.

"What was that?!"

"You heard me! We women are the only ones who can have access to that technology, you men are too savage and inferior in intellect, skill, and wisdom to have it!"

"You arrogant witch!!! There is no way I will let you're hideous and disease ridden hands on the information there on that ship!"

Before things could get out of hand, Magno stepped in.

"ENOUGH!!!!"

That was enough to get the attention of the two officers as the elderly woman glared at the two of them, Magno then began to cough a bit and it was enough to prompt Buzam to help her commander.

"Captain!"

"I'm all right BC."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes….I just felt a bit out of breath."

John then stepped in and took out some pills from one of the containers on his MJOLNIR Mark VI and took out some medical pills and handed them to Magno. These were given to him by Dr. Catherine and were non addictive and highly effective medicine that the head of the Spartan II Program recommended for the medical condition that Magno had

"Here you are Captain, these should help, Dr. Catherine suggested these for your medical condition."

Magno took the pills from the Spartan and smiled a bit at the Spartan as she took the pills, the medicine was quick acting and the pain she felt in her lungs and near her heart began to fade away, making her feel much better. As soon as the pain was gone moments later, she spoke to the Master Chief.

"Thank you Master Chief, remind me to drop by the Medical Bay when all this is over."

"Not a problem Ma'am."

Magno then faced the two officers and their escorts and glared at them.

"I have to agree with the Master Chief on that regard. Neither Tarak nor Megele deserves access to that technology the way things are between them. The reason that ship was ever brought into the discussion is the fact that it is both too valuable and too dangerous to leave behind. Neither our world or that of the men are ready for this kind of technology and the secrets there are too dangerous for anyone to have, and I shudder to think what would happen if that technology is ever used by either side."

Cassandra had enough and spoke seriously.

"So if neither Grand Ma or those men are going to get the technology on that ship, then that means that you pirates are going to be the ones who have it?! I won't allow it!"

Magno then spoke hard once more.

"Sit down."

Cassandra glared a bit more but did as Magno asked and Magno spoke once more.

"This is not something that can be one sided, you know that the situation we are in is not the same anymore, and you have seen the evidence of the Harvesters and their intent on harvesting all the organs of other human civilizations. Before you two stands a choice, you can either unite together and fight this force that cares little for our gender and cares only for their own survival which means our mutual extinction, or you can continue fighting one another and allow these forces to make their way to where Tarak and Megele are and neither of you can stop them from butchering every human being on either world. And if they get their hands on this ship and it's secrets, then we are going to be facing a terror that will easily wipe us out piecemeal."

"This war you stumbled on involves everyone, both man AND woman and the situation demands that we have to put aside our differences and fight the Harvesters, they had already deployed a number of their forces to attack Tarak and Megele directly in a matter of weeks, if we don't stop them somehow…then we risk the fates of both civilizations."

Marcus then replied.

"You expect us to just drop everything and fight a foe that we have not seen with our own eyes? In my world, we believe that if we can see it for ourselves, then it is real, but until then, we will not believe it, for all we know, the data you have could have just been fabricated somewhere on some rocky planet or anywhere else."

Cassandra nodded as well.

"As much as I hate to say it, the male is right Magno, unless we have absolute proof that these images you're crew showed us is authentic, then we will not dedicate our resources and forces to this struggle."

It was then that the nearby holo-tank came to life and there was Cortana who spoke to the two people who were the ones that the meeting was targeting.

"You want proof, then you will have it, the Clarion Spy Drones have just reported in captain….we have Harvester signals coming in."

Magno was quick to speak and so did Buzam who was with them.

"How many Cortana?"

"We have picked up at least half a hundred Seed Ships a large number of squadrons of their high speed interceptors, along with at least five hundred Cube Fighters, at least a hundred or so Boarding Craft, at least forty of their planetary deployment shuttles, a hundred of their urchin Ships, and at least four Harvester Battleships. This force looks like a battle group Captain, it seems that the Harvesters not going to hesitate this time to wipe us out."

Buzam was the next to speak.

"Do we have a visual?"

Cortana nodded and activated the screen where the records of the war that the Nirvana was deeply involved in with the Harvesters came before Marcus and Cassandra to see. In this case the images were on real time as the Clarion Spy Drones revealed the images to the two and their guards. They were stunned to see the massive clouds of Cube Fighters that were flying around the ships that were moving towards their location, they saw the Seed Ships, the Urchin-like space vessels, the Boarding Craft, the Deployment Shuttles, and the battleships themselves. Magno and Buzam both cringed at the sight of the ships as the recalled the desperate gambit that they had undertaken to wipe out the ships of the same class that they first fought with, now there were four of them to deal with.

"By Grand Pa…."

"Grand Ma, protect us…"

Cassandra and Marcus said as they gazed at the massive fleet that was now heading in their direction, they had thought that the images they had seen were created and were therefore not real, but now they were seeing this for themselves

Magno wasted no time and spoke directly to Cortana.

"How much time do we have before they get the drop on us?"

Cortana activated the screen and revealed the image of their location and that of both the Titan's Wrath and the Ruby Rapier and the planetary bodies there in the area, she then revealed the calculated information on the exact force composition of the Harvester battle group that was heading in their direction.

"They will be here in at least a day and a half at best, but considering the fact that it's a battle group, then we have to assume Commander that they will try to half their time frame in getting into position. And judging by their battle formation, I can bet that they will not hesitate to use whatever means needed to take us out the very second they see us."

"Is there a secondary group coming in from the other side of the system?"

Cortana shook her head and replied.

"The Clarions we sent to the other side report nothing as of yet Commander, this is the only battle group of the Harvesters that is heading to our current direction."

Magno then turned to both Marcus and Cassandra, she could tell from their expressions that they were shocked by what they were seeing and she spoke to them now.

"Now you see the true enemy of all humanity here in the universe, this is not an elaborate hoax made by my crew, this is the real deal and they will soon be here, you can choose to help us win this fight and ensure that we all, as human beings win and prevent them from claiming countless other innocent lives, or you can continue to fight one another once you return to your ships and allow them to pick you off one by one. The reasons we had survived for this long is that we here on the Nirvana, both man AND woman have worked as one to win the battles we had with them. They out number us yet we survived, because we worked together, so now the same as to be for both your forces. They have already claimed countless lives for their own survival, and will stop it nothing to do what they came to do. To the Harvesters, they care little if you are a man or woman, to them, you are just parts. But here and now, we all can prove them wrong, but like anything else….in order to do that, we have to work together, both men and women. What do you decide?"

Marcus and Cassandra looked at the images that were still before them and thoughts began to run through their heads as they wondered just what were they going to do. Part of them felt that maybe this was still an illusion or some computer created images for their benefit, but there was also a part of their brains that told them that the pirates might not be lying about the Harvesters as well and there is a threat like this coming their way. They confused for the moment and Magno could see that along with Buzam and Master Chief, the three couldn't blame them and neither could Gascogne, they had a hard time themselves after all with this sort of situation themselves.

After a few minutes, Cassandra spoke.

"So what do we do?"

Magno nodded, it was a start, but it would still take time and effort to get this alliance between Tarak and Megele the way it's supposed to in her mind, she then places that train of thought aside for the time being and focuses on the plans that they have as she spoke once more to Cortana as she alone with the data given to her by Dr. Catherine would be able to come up with a viable solution to the problem while Dr. Catherine would also be needed in this mission that was before them. Only this time, apart from destroying the Forerunner Dreadnaught, they would need to shut down the incoming Harvester Fleet, and the NOVA Bombs hold the key to the whole affair.

"Cortana….I think it's time we start analyzing the Dreadnaught's data to determine how many NOVA Bombs we need, and also to find the exact area in that massive ship where those NOVA Bombs have to be placed for maximum effect."

"Way ahead of you Captain."

Magno then turned to speak to the Master Chief and Mendez.

"Master Chief, Mendez, you both are in charge of this operation, we have at least a day and half to get things done….maybe even less, so let's get to it."

Both men saluted Magno and replied.

"Yes Ma'am!"

Magno then turned to Gascogne and Buzam and spoke seriously to her senior officers.

"BC, Gascogne, I want you and Parfet to start working alongside Dr. Catherine and Cortana to start making the NOVA Bombs. Have Bart get ready for this since from the way things are looking, we are going to have go do some very serious tricks to fight this new force off."

"Yes Captain!"

Magno then turned to both Marcus and Cassandra and replied.

"Well you two….I suggest that you get your ships operational as best you can…we're about to have a serious battle on our hands, and this time it has little to do with the reasons why we have this war between two genders, but a war with a foe that has already claimed many lives. It's time for the real battle to begin."

--------

While all this was going on…thing back in the other dimension was about to kick off as well.

--------

In the UNSC Orbital Defense Platform Cairo Station…

Lord Hood looked over the screen and shook his head as he looked at a number of figures who were currently there before him, he was not all that pleased with the news of the remains of the Brutes, the Kig-Yar, some of the Unggoy and the Yanme'e still causing havoc and the fact that a Prophet was leading them once more to raid UNSC colonies, those that survived the Covenant-UNSC War and the new ones that they had. Only this time, the UNSC Colonies in question were now better defended and with their new technology that was developed over the intern years, all the way to the trading between them and their allies, they were ready.

The Sangheili had rechristened their forces as the Reborn Covenant, showing that they were now staunch allies of the humans who had once been their enemies and had willingly contributed in many ways for the UNSC to grow and heal to make up for their actions on them. The Elites were still supported by the Mgalekgolo and the forces of the Grunts that were on their side, along with the Huragok who were with them in battle. The Reborn were more than willing to fight with the new threat that came from the remains of the old Covenant who renamed themselves as the Eternal Covenant as well.

At the moment however, he was relieved that the UNSC had recovered enough to be able to go on a new wartime footing, though many people in Earth and both the surviving Inner and Outer Colonies would never want war again, he knew that until the forces of the Eternal Covenant were put to rest once and for all, they were still going to have to fight. But with their allies, and the resources, manpower, and more that they were getting, they had a chance.

It was then that his personal Smart A.I Churchill appeared and spoke to him.

"Forgive me for barging Lord Hood, but Captain James Cutter is here to see you."

"Understood, let him in Churchill."

Lord Hood turned just as the doors opened to allow a tall man with a moustache and dressed in UNSC Officer's clothing and carrying an M6G Magnum sidearm in a holster, to walk in, the man briskly saluted Lord Hood and spoke in a serious but calm voice that spoke of authority and respect.

"Captain James Gregory Cutter reporting in Lord Hood."

James Gregory Cutter was the Captain of the converted Phoenix-Class ship the Spirit of Fire moved into the room and saluted the man who was still the head of the whole UNSC. One of the most brilliant minds of the UNSC forces, the man had a very solid reputation and a career soldier and officer. The respect he gained due to his dedication to duty, compassion and respect given to the men who served under him, and his tactical brilliance in battle made him a hero for his long career. He was a consummate officer and not the kind of man to be easily intimidated or pushed around, which was why he was one of the men who served alongside the famed Admiral Preston Cole. It was he who reclaimed Harvest after five years of sheer hell fighting the Covenant when the Sangheili were still on the side of the Covenant.

He and his forces were recently rescued by a combined Reborn and UNSC recon group which was on it's way to the old sectors that was once under UNSC control to locate any and all survivors of the decimated Outer Colonies. It had been an amazing discovery to know that the Spirit of Fire had survived the climactic battle that it was in with the Covenant and that the people of the ship were still alive.

Of course it had not been an easy thing as the crew of the UNSC Spirit of Fire was not happy with the news that Reach had been destroyed and the UNSC had been losing even more colonies. However they were all shocked to discover that the UNSC had struck an alliance with the Covenant Separatists who renamed themselves the Reborn Covenant and had defeated the Covenant Loyalists and won the war.

They were also shocked to discover that a majority of the citizens of Reach had been evacuated before and had somehow made it to safety and for the Captain, he was reunited with his family in that day.

Lord Hood thought about the tearful reunions of the crew of the Spirit of Fire with those of their families that made it back and as soon as he was done thinking about that, he then directed his attention to speak to the Captain.

"It's good to see you James, how is the Spirit of Fire holding up?"

"The ship is fine sir, the attention being given to her is worth it and most of my crew are taking what time they have with their families to catch up ns the same can be said for me as well. I can bet that this meeting is about me and my crew as well as the Spirit of Fire going back into the battle zone Lord Hood?"

Lord Hood then spoke to James.

"The Spirit of Fire will be joining Battle Group Washington to the border-system of the Gamma Sector, we've recently gained intel from the Reborn Covenant's spies that the location is rumored to be a major staging area for Eternal Covenant activity there, as far as they know,. There is a planet there that is being used as a refueling, supply and logistics base by the Eternal Covenant to rebuilt their momentum and launch raids on UNSC Colonies and start fighting with their enemies the Elites. Once your battle group gets there they will need to validate the information, once we are sure that the data is authentic, we are to go in and neutralize the area and clear our the Eternal Covenant presence there as well as determine anything that could be of value to the UNSC-Reborn Alliance. And if there is any sign of a Halo there as well, then your group are to make sure that the Eternal Covenant are not allowed to get it, destroy it with a NOVA if you have to."

Lord Hood then replied.

"I know that what I am asking of you and your men will be hard Captain, considering the hell you and your soldiers have gone through to fight taking Harvest back from the Covenant, and the lives lost in Arcadia, and all of you have great dislike or anger towards the Elites, but they are now allies, and while your men need time to recover after all they have been through, we need them in the frontlines once again. You are one of the best officers we have…along with Captain Jacob Keyes and his daughter, Lieutenant Commander Miranda Keyes, who both gave their lives to defeat them. You are quite suited for this task Captain James, but if you have concerns, you have my permission at this moment to speak freely."

James thought it over and replied.

"Lord Hood, I have seen many things ever since this war with the Covenant started over forty years ago, I had to deal with the Insurrection and the Insurrectionists who gave us problems while fighting the Covenant. I and my men endured five years of hell to take Harvest back from the Covenant, I will admit that part of me still feels great anger for all the lives they took and part of me wants them all to pay for all the people they helped kill. But after all this, and the fact that the UNSC survived and humanity is rebuilding, and both my wife and daughter alive here on Earth, then I will dedicate all my time to make sure that the sheer hell our sides have endured is NEVER going to happen again. As soon as the repairs, and modifications to the Spirit of Fire are complete, we will move out."

Lord Hood smiled at that, relieved as well as he could tell that James meant it.

"Glad to hear that, you have several more days of rest Captain, I think it would be best that you take it. Dismissed."

James saluted and left Lord Hood's office and headed off to the nearby shuttle station, he boarded it and saluted the driver as the shuttle was soon moving back down to Earth.

--------

In Earth's surface, in the city of London, England….

As soon as he arrived to the space port, James headed off to the home that he and his family were sharing, he took one of the civilian built Warthogs and drove back home to see his wife and daughter. His family had been evacuated from Reach and had been deployed from Reach onboard a small fleet of Human Cargo Ships with a number of other survivors along with escorting Marine and Navy personnel and only through sheer luck, skill from the pilots and proper maneuvering to avoid Covenant Fleets to make it to Earth after nearly a year or so in deep space. The ships were scanned extensively by the UNSC Navy and were deemed clear of any Covenant tracking devices and the survivors were taken in.

As soon as he got to his modest but well made home he was greeted by his daughter who smiled and moved towards him, hugging her father.

"Daddy!"

James hugged his child, feeling once more the joy that he felt when he hugged her previously after nearly a decade making it back to UNSC territory where the Spirit of Fire was greeted by the sight of something that he had never thought he and the others would ever see, a UNSC Frigate and a pair of Covenant Frigates flying side by side, along with the fact that the ships were colored green.

It had taken a great leap of faith for him and his crew to accept that the war was over with a victory for Humanity with the aid of the Sangheili who were now broken away from the Covenant, he had not forgotten the suffering that the Elites inflicted to their people, but he took a risk and agreed to allow the Covenant to allow their Huragok to make a new hybrid engine that used both UNSC and Covenant slip-space technology and as soon as his crew arrived to Earth….they saw the truth.

And it was there that he was informed that his family had arrived to Earth and were in a home that was made for them in the countryside there in England.

As he released his daughter, he hugged and kissed his wife Mary and when they parted, she spoke to him.

"It's good to see you home James."

"I know."

James decided to take all the time he had to be with his family, he had a duty to them and in turn the UNSC, after this brutal and senseless war with the Covenant, he was ready to defend them once more from those that sought to break down the peace that was now part of their lives. He however knew that he had a LOT to catching up to do as he had just been told that his daughter had just found the one kind of person most fathers like him had to be wary about.

A boyfriend.

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To be continued…

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Author's Notes:

It seems that the situation is getting to be rather interesting at the moment for both the Nirvana and the crews of both the Titan's Wrath and the Ruby Rapier, and it seems that the UNSC and their alien allies are already getting things underway for their war with what is left of the old Covenant. Things are getting spicy on either side of the universe eh?

Now we have an idea how the Spirit of Fire will be shown once more in the coming chapters of the story of VanDread Halo The Second Stage, and before you ask, then yes, the Spirit of Fire will still retain it's upgrades and features like in the game of Halo Wars, but this time, it will have some new systems added to it due to the alliance between the Reborn Covenant or simply the Reborn as they will be called, and the UNSC. I am not going to make the Spirit of Fire a massive super ship of course, but I will give it a number of canon features that are normally found in Covenant ships.

It seems that James' wife and daughter are safe and no doubt that the members of the families of the Spirit of Fire's crew are able to be reunited, though not all are that lucky in this regard. Since James Cutter is here, then you can bet that the others from the Halo wars games that are alive are there too. Plus I have seen Halo 3 ODST, and I hope to see the other films soon enough from the anime series of short movies known as Halo Legends, and if I like them, I might add some characters that are alive there to spice things up.

That also means that I will not be bringing people back from the dead, which means….as much as I am going to dislike saying it, I am not bringing John Forge or Cal-141 back to life, along with Kurt and the other slain Spartans. The idea of bringing people back from the dead might be tempting, but it would be hard to explain just how they managed to survive while the data showed how they died in their appearances.

Now I am not saying that I do not welcome suggestions and critiques, but keep in mind that as the writer of this story, I have the privilege to play things out as I see fit to make the story good, and keep in mind that while I do make changes, I will be keeping with the canon of the Halo series as well and making too many changes will begin to make things too complicated for even me to work with.

This might cause me to either suffer from exhaustion and more besides, maybe even writer's block… so for all readers, please let me do things on my pace all right?

That's it for now!


	8. Chapter 8

VanDread Halo The Second Stage

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to VanDread or Halo, so let's stop with this foolishness and enjoy the story instead.

Chapter 5

Part 3

Blast from the Past…

: Thoughts

********

In the Nirvana's Engineering Bay…

Parfet looked over all the data concerning the NOVA bombs and couldn't help but whistle at the specifications that went into the bomb's construction. To think that before her were plans that would give rise to a weapon powerful enough to literally destroy a planet was considerably disturbing, the fact that they were going to use a number of the weapons to destroy ONE ship seemed like overkill to her.

But she knew that with the Harvesters coming into play and the risks of the alien technology falling into the hands of the Harvesters as well as those who might continue to ignite the fires of war between her world and that of the men. So they had no choice but to destroy the ship, she only hoped that they were going to be able to start studying the data that would be salvaged from the ship by the ground teams, and also get some live samples of the technology that would be found there. The idea of studying actual alien artifacts had been a fantasy of hers for some time and now she hoped that she was going to get the chance, for now however she had other things to deal with.

"Parfet, we've gotten the first three Drones ready!"

Parfet turned and replied.

"Good….make sure to load it up with all the portable laser systems that we can afford to place on them without them being weighed down."

"Right!"

Apart from working on the NOVA Bombs, Parfet and her engineering crew were currently working with the Talvernian Engineers and both Dr. Catherine and Franklin Mendez to on another key part of the operation, the deployment of the UNSC Air Force's F-99 Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle commonly known by the UNSC Armed Forces as the Drone Fighter or the Wombat. Designed for advanced recon and ground support roles in battle the Wombat was used special optics packages for their duties and could carry a small number of weapon packages that would make it a fast moving fighter/bomber unit that would be able to help ground forces for a short period until heavier forces were in the area as well as be able to help coordinate ground and air assets in the field.

The Megele forces had a number of their own drone technology but these units were never designed for combat roles so there were that many weapon packages that would fit on the drones themselves, so Parfet had to make them, she took a number of Megele Laser Rifles and began to modify them to have a much higher charge than normal, removing most of the safety features to give them an extra boost in power ratings while building special heat sinks to the new housing to keep the weapons from blowing up as well as regulators to keep them from overcharging themselves.

She would have preferred to use the Weapon/Anti-Vehicle Model 6 Grindell/Galilean Nonlinear Rifle or the Spartan Laser for the job or one of the extra Dread Weapon Systems but both would limit the Wombat's maneuverability and speed, not to mention weigh them down, they also couldn't fit heavier missile pods on the drones so they had no choice but to rely only on the laser weapons for offensive purposes.

The reason for the Wombats being built was the possibility that the ship may have Flood Organisms in them, Magno and Buzam had already seen the horrors the Flood could do on living and even dead objects and the idea of going into the planet's surface to face such horrific creatures was one thing that Magno and Buzam were keen on avoiding at all costs as they were not going to risk their crew in a pitched battle with them.

The Master Chief also insisted that they be built as recon and first response units to help his fellow Spartans and the Spartan IIISs to secure the ship. John had already prior experience with the Flood due to his encounter with them the first Halo Ring, then on the Delta Halo Ring, his encounter with Gravemind in the same place, on High Charity as the Flood attacked the Covenant Capital City when he and the Arbiter were forced to be allies, then on Voi and New Mombasa in Africa, on the Ark and in the newly build and unfinished Halo Ring that was the replacement for the one he had destroyed with the aid of the Arbiter. Because of this, he was seriously focused on this mission, knowing how much had been lost to keep these monsters away from life itself in his world, he was not keen of having the same thing happen in this universe and on other worlds.

Cortana handed over the data she had gathered on the Flood both in her time in Halo as well as her attempts to stall the Gravemind so they had modified the Wombats' optical systems to detect the Flood more effectively. This data was all that they had and they were going to have to get it ready for the mission.

This was also going to be the time that Parfet' Power Armors were going to see serious action, though they were not advanced to match the MJOLNIR, they were pressurized and over the months had been rigorously tested for safety and protection for the users. It had been expensive and time consuming, but Parfet was able to double the number of Power Armor on the ship for the Nirvana Fire Teams to use if vehicles were not viable for the mission parameters as well as the terrain. They also would be using the Vanguards that they were able to modify for heavy battle as these would be helpful in the mission ahead. Parfet hoped that despite them being untested for actual warfare, her creations would be able to give her comrades the fighting edge they needed in the battle to come.

While the planet showed no signs of the Flood transforming the atmosphere to suit their biology more, the pirates were taking any chances whatsoever so this was why they were bringing all that they had to bear for this fight.

They were racing around the clock as preparations were underway and she could only do her best and be ready for anything.

********

In the bridge…

Magno looked over the incoming data from the Clarion Spy Drones that had been deployed in the area to monitor the Harvester Combat Fleet as she thought over the situation before her, it was bad enough to have to deal with the Harvesters, no they had to make sure that their new found allies from their world and that of the men don't decide to throw the shaky alliance into the wind and start attacking one another first chance they got. The last thing they needed was a break in ranks as well as a backstabbing.

However, a new concern was the Flood after seeing the footage and being told exactly what the Flood was and how deadly it was in battle from both Cortana and the Master Chief who had prior experience with these creatures and had learned as much as they could from it due to Cortana's access of the Forerunner database as well as her own words with the Gravemind, she was NOT going to take any chances and let these horrors loose in the universe, they had enough problems dealing with the insane Harvesters, the last thing they needed was a battle with an intergalactic parasitic species hell bent on consuming and infesting all living things.

As she looked at the screens as both the Ruby Rapier and Titan's Wrath were busy doing as much repairs as they could manage under the cease-fire, she was also informed by Ezra of other news. The incoming troop transports from both ships were on the way as both Marcus and Cassandra had sent several of their best soldiers to help with the mission. As much as she still had doubts of their actions, Magno knew that she was not in the position to say no, they needed all the forces they could get their hands on. However, she had made it clear to the ground teams to keep their eyes peeled and trained on the two factions to make sure that they work in unison and try not to kill one another.

********

In the Forward Unto Dawn's planning room…

John was able to get the Dread Squadrons into the planning room as well as the contingent of the Ruby Rapier and also the contingent from the Titan's Wrath together with the members of the Talvernians. His fellow Spartans and the Spartan IIIs were also there and ready to get to work but the Master Chief was not going to go down just yet, he wanted to make sure that they were fully prepared to face what was down there. He had a feeling that even if the ship was already a wreck, there would no doubt still be active defenses in the ship or worse, the Flood.

He knew from his personal experiences as well as the fact that he had gained a considerable deal of information about the

The Megele officer then taunted the Master Chief with a smug look.

"What's the matter you male? Afraid our forces can do better than you?"

The women from the Ruby Rapier gave slight smiles at that as they didn't have their helms on, but the officer as well as her group of Megele soldiers got the shock of their lives as the Nirvana's Fire Teams all collectively told them to shut up, and one of the NCOs, namely Kara actually walked up to her and without any warning, slapped her hard.

WHAP!!!

The women from the Ruby Rapier's forces were stunned at the sight of a woman from their world striking another woman from their world as well….all over a man.

The officer looked at the irate Kara with shock and spoke after a moment or two.

"You….you slapped me…."

"Yeah I did and if you say anything bad against the Master Chief then a slap is the least of your worries!"

The officer got up, still stunned that a fellow woman of Megele, even if she was a pirate, would strike a fellow woman over a man no matter how intimidating he was, she was soon joined by other officers but Kara was soon joined by her fellow Fire Team NCOs Hilda, Sheena, Carla, Fiona, and Rena…all five of them were also angry. The female officer then stopped as she decided to find out why this happened.

"Why did you slap me?!"

"Isn't it obvious? You insulted the Master Chief, and no one does that to him while they're here on the Nirvana!"

"Why do you protect him, I'm sure he can take care of himself?"

"Oh believe us sister, we KNOW he can take care of himself, heck, if he wanted to he could wipe the floor with us easily. But while you are in front of him, you WILL show him respect!"

The officer was getting angry as she spoke.

"Why do you care so much about us showing him respect? He's just a man after all."

Kara and her fellow NCOs glared darkly at the officer, ands their glares were actually enough to make her and her lackeys back away a step. They had never seen fellow women this angry before in their lives and wondered why. They got their answer as Carla spoke seriously.

"He may be a man, but he is one of us here on the Nirvana and he is our Commander, so you had better respect him."

The officer was surprised by this and she spoke out her surprise.

"You take your orders from a…."

Rena then spoke with a dark tone.

"If you insult him again, I will not slap you, but punch you in the face!"

The officer could tell that Rena meant it and stopped from what she was about to say but still she couldn't fathom why her fellow women would defend this man before her.

"Why are you doing this for him, even if he is indeed your commander, he is a man and you all are women….so why?"

Sheena then replied.

"The Master Chief is more than a Commander to all of us here in the Fire Teams! He is a man worthy of our respect, loyalty, and trust. Without his training, lessons, support, and leadership all of us here in the Fire Teams would not be here and none of us would be alive! In fact we see him as more than either our Commander or a man! He is OUR ohma!!!"

"What?!"

"You heard me!!! He is OUR ohma and all of us will gladly fight with him no matter the odds before us!!!"

"That's right!"

"He saved our necks more times that we can recall!!!"

The shouts grew until Fiona spoke seriously.

"You have NO idea who the Master Chief is, and what he has done in his life and service long before he ever became part of the crew here on the Nirvana. He has seen more battles and fought in more battles than you can ever hope to live in. he taught us many things and like Sheena said, without his training, lessons and leadership…we all here in the Fire Teams would have been either crippled or worse."

"He showed all of us respect and fairness, without favoritism at all. And he trusts us well when the battles with the Harvesters happen. I, Fiona, Kara, Carla, Hilda, and Sheena earned his trust enough to be NCOs of our respective Fire Teams because he sees potential in all of us, regardless of being women. And that is why we all see him as both Commander and Ohma, so you show him respect!"

This would have gone on until John spoke in his usual tone of cool professionalism.

"Carla, Hilda, Kara, Fiona, Sheena, Rena, I need your focus on the mission, we do not have time for these debates so I need you all to focus on the plans before us, is that clear?"

All the NCOs turned and with professionalism and respect in their tones replied.

"Yes Master Chief!"

As they sat back the atmosphere in the room cooled a bit, but Kelly, ever the funny one in Blue Team spoke to John in a private COM.

"You got quite the fan club John. They even think of you as a father figure."

John couldn't help but smile a tiny bit as he replied.

"I try."

As soon as things cooled off, the Master Chief then spoke to the three groups who were new to this kind of operation as he reached for a data chip that was going to show the reason why he had insisted that his Spartans were going to go in first.

"There is a viable reason why we're going ahead…and that is the Flood."

The people were curious at this and the female officer that Kara slapped before, still smarting from the confrontation with the NCO decided to speak.

"What kind of danger is there in a flood?"

The Spartan shook his head and didn't answer, as the Men from Tarak were also curious about this as well as the men and women of Talvern, but the members of the Fire Teams and their NCOs quickly gasped in horror as they began to get pale….unlike the three other groups in the planning room, they had seen the Flood before so they knew just what the Master Chief was talking about.

John then replied.

"I am not referring to a flood of water…but this."

As soon as the video showed up, the gasps from the people were heard, that was when the Master Chief spoke as the images depicted the Infection forms running over the facility floor of the first Halo Ring as they were shown to the audience as they attacked Captain Keyes, several Marines and the late Avery J. Johnson. The Master Chief felt a brief rush of memory as he recalled the things he had seen the very second he had seen the recoding from Private Jenkins' helmet recorder of the attack, he managed to calm himself and continue.

"What you are seeing is actual evidence of a parasitic race called the Flood or by the records of the aliens who owned that ship on the planet we are going to as the Parasite. These creatures survive by consuming and infesting all organic creatures, either living or dead. Where we Spartans come from, they had nearly succeeded in wiping out all life and were barely kept in check. The owners of the ship there on the surface waged a bloody war that ended in a Pyrrhic victory for them, they starved the Flood into submission, but all of them were wiped out and most other life as well, except for those species that they were able to save."

As the images played on, the Tarak men, the Megele women, and the co-gender group from Talvern couldn't help but be horrified by the sight of the Flood doing's grisly work on living and dead beings, converting the living ones into horrific monsters while reanimating and converting the dead to serve them. The Master Chief waited patiently as the images played before the groups, he disliked having to allow these images to be seen as they would terrify people as well as remind him of the horrors the Flood could unleash when left unchecked, but it had to be done, they needed to know what the dangers were for this mission. He could tell that show was horrifying to the men and women before him as the men from Tarak, the women from Megele, and the men and women from Talvern were more than willing to voice of their horror.

"My God!"

"Oh man….I'm going to be sick…."

"This…can't be real…."

"I can't watch this anymore…."

The words of the combined crews were enough to tell the Master Chief that his actions in revealing to them the exact kind of monsters the Flood were was working. The crews watched as the Flood Infection Forms attacked both living and dead creatures, they watched as UNSC Marines were fighting for their lives as the Flood began to attack them en masse, they heard the screams of terror of the battle hardened Marines as well as their cries of anger and horror as they watched the Flood transform their fellow Marines who were alive into monsters, allowing the audience to hear the victims' desperate screams for help turn into cries of pain then into inhuman monsters. They watched as even the alien forces of the Covenant were not spared from the horrific transformation that

As the videos played, the Master Chief then spoke to the audience.

"The Flood by nature are simplistic and straightforward, relying on overwhelming numbers to win battles, but their simplicity is not a sign of stupidity in the very least. They are able to absorb the knowledge of the victims they consume so they can operate weapons and even vehicles. There are at least four stages to their development, the first is the Feral Stage, in this case, the Flood operate in a more localized fashion, similar to the hunting pack of animals that use pheromones as a communications medium and it is considered limited with no complex command structure."

"However, once the Flood can create a Proto-Gravemind with enough bodies and accumulated knowledge and information, then the next stage is called the Coordinated Stage. In this state, the Flood becomes more organized with the Proto-Gravemind acting like a hive mind center, allowing the Flood to fight more effectively and with greater organizational planning and skill. This also allows for more Flood biomass to gather and Pure Forms are born."

The images then revealed the horrific monsters that were not made from the bodies of humans and the various Covenant species and while the watchers were spared the sight of the horrific way the Flood transformed living beings, and brought the dead back to life in the most brutal fashion available, the sight of the Pure Flood Forms was no less easier on the eyes.

"The Pure Forms normally start as collected masses of Flood Super Cells with recycled bones, muscles and tissues collected by the Flood, instead of transformed beings and reanimated corpses There are three forms, the Stalker Form is the basic one and is agile enough to avoid being shot at, while they do not attack, they can turn into Ranged and Tank forms, which while lacking the agility of the first base form, have deadlier uses in battle."

The images revealed the spider like Stalker Forms that he faced in the now corrupted city of High Charity and then showed the Ranged Form to the audience.

"The Ranged Form cannot move anywhere without turning back into a Stalker Form, but while they cannot move much, they can unleash deadly barrages of pure hardened bones that can cut through basic metals with deadly ease, they curl their heads to hide when attacked but cannot survive long under heavy assault. However they can easily pin you down, transform and move in Stalker Form, and revert back to be in a deadlier firing angle. Energy as well as explosive weapons are the best choice to face them at this point and time. The next form is the Tank Form."

The images changed from the Ranged Form to the hulking beast that was the Tank Form of the Pure Flood.

"The Tank form lives up to it's name and can take tremendous amounts of punishment and can dish out just as much when using it's massive limbs and can unleash Infection Forms from their mouths, while they lack the ranged ability and agility of both the Ranged and Stalker Forms, and unlike the Combat Forms created from infesting living and dead beings, they are more than able to kill anyone foolish enough to be ill prepared to face them. They move slowly but they can increase their speed by using all four limbs in battle and they are not foolish creatures, killing them in the head can stop them and like the other forms, energy and explosive weapons offer better results."

"This will give birth to the Interstellar Stage, this is where the Flood have gathered all known knowledge and technology, conquered all planets in the given solar system, and have no need to assimilate more biological matter. Once this stage is reached, the Flood then travel into space, looking for the next system to invade and infest. Once they take control of all the systems in a galaxy and consumed all the sentient life they can find, then the Intergalactic Stage begins."

"This is the worst stage, for once the Flood get all that they desire in terms of knowledge, technology, scientific concepts, and consumed all sentient life in a galaxy. This stage is when they reach critical mass and then soon move out to do the same thing to the next galaxy."

As the images faded, the Master Chief looked at the audience and he could tell there and then that he now had their full and undivided attention as he spoke.

"While we do not know for certain if there are any traces of the Flood there, we cannot take any chances either as they will become a very deadly threat once they recover from whatever put them into stasis, Cortana will take over from here."

On cue it seemed, the former A.I turned human appeared in her A.I form in front of the assembled crowd as she spoke.

"The first mission will be with an atmospheric insertion with Wombat Combat Recon Drones that have been linked to the Nirvana's command center, they will be the ones to scan the area below for any visible sign of Flood infestation on the surface of the planet. While there is no visible sign that the Flood from here in space, the Captain requests a more on the spot examination of the planet, once a suitable landing zone is selected, the Spartans will be the first to secure the ship and hold the entrance and soon you will be deployed into the hot zone."

Cortana then showed the images of the Vanguards and Parfait's Power Armor as well as the Cyclops units that they had with them in their arsenals.

"The dangers the Flood pose to any human forces requires that Vanguards will be sent into battle along with Parfait's newly improved Power Armor designs, they will form the needed support for this operation, the Key-ship is a massive vessel, capable of carrying a basic crew of at least a thousand and can carry thousands more and a massive amount of supplies and equipment so the Spartans will need support for this mission, we've also come up with some other aids."

The door opened and in walked Parfait and Gascogne with several flying robots, the robots resembled spheres with large eyes on them. The Spartans quickly recognized them to be camera drones that were similar to the ones used on Earth, and for a brief moment, John felt anger as the image reminded him of that Rampant Fore-runner A.I Construct Guilty Spark, he placed that aside as Parfait spoke.

"These will serve as forward recon units on the surface, and a pair will accompany the entry teams into the vessel itself so they will be able to feed information to cut the risk of being caught off guard."

As soon as that was done, Cortana spoke once more to the Talvernians, the men of Tarak, and the women of Megele.

"We need to do this fast and hard, there's no room for error or delay, and there is certainly no room for bigotry and hatred here, you are all in the same situation whether you like it or not, if there is Flood on this vessel or planet, then we have a serious situation that could spell the doom of all known life in the universe, the Flood see ALL living things as food, nothing more. We have to prevent that from happening. And also, we must make sure that the technology that can be salvaged from the ship below cannot be used for the wrong reasons. That is why you are going to be monitored to prevent you from taking any technology for your own ends."

The men and women of the two worlds were not happy with the information but Cortana was well aware of their thoughts and replied.

"The technology is too advanced and too dangerous for anyone without a proper understanding of it to have. And if the Harvesters get their hands on this technology….or somehow even salvage this entire ship and refurbish it, they will be able to equip their forces with weapons that will make everything your two worlds can muster look like simple farming tools and pop guns. And that ship possessed enough firepower to turn entire fleets into scrap and debris….that is why that ship must not only be cleaned of everything that can be salvaged. But also destroyed as well to prevent them from resurrecting I, if they do accomplish it….then no world is safe from their genocidal campaign to harvest all the organs that they can find. That is the reason why we all have to work side by side."

As soon as that was over, the Master Chief spoke seriously.

"We have only a few hours to get everything ready for the operation before us, we have no time for bigotry and hatred, those of you who are chosen for this operation have to know this since there is no telling if and when the Harvesters will deploy an assault force to the surface of the planet once they see the ship, Get everything done and be ready for a serious battle ahead of you."

As the crews were soon dismissed, the Master Chief spoke to the Nirvana Fire Teams, as well as the heads of the Security Teams and the officers of the Talvernians who were going to remain behind on the Nirvana, he knew that since he was going to take half of the Nirvana Fire Teams to the surface for the mission as well as half of the Talvernians to operate the heavily modified Vanguards, the Nirvana's security was going to be halved so he ordered the Security Team leaders to bring all the needed heavy hardware and the remaining Fire Teams as well as the Talvernians to go heavy when dealing with the threats before them.

Once that was squared away, the Spartan told his fellow Spartan IIs as well as the Spartan IIIs to get ready for heavy ordnance and also bring energy weapons with them on the mission as he took his leave to speak with the other members of the crew.

As he made his way to the Nirvana, he was greeted by Parfait who had just managed to complete the designs of several of the no working NOVA Bombs.

"How is it going Parfait?"

The spunky head engineer replied to the Master Chief's question.

"We've gotten enough supplies to make the first three NOVAs plus were attaching the new weapons on the Power Armors and the modified Vanguards that should be able to help give the ground teams extra punch just in case we encounter a good deal of resistance Master Chief."

John nodded at that and spoke to Parfait a bit more about how to best deploy the NOVAs once the ground teams secured the Fore-runner ship and after they had taken as much technology and data that could be salvageable from the ruined ship. Afterwards, he made his way to the rest of the ship and spoke to Gascogne who was currently supervising the Register to get the Dreads ready for heavy combat and would be directing the delivery of the NOVA Bombs as well.

The dark green haired head officer of the Register spoke to him with a smile as she had grown to respect and admire the Spartan for his abilities, and skills for a while now.

"Hello Master Chief, what's up?"

"How are things going so far?"

Gascogne looked about and replied.

"As busy as one can get, the good thing is at least this time we get to have some backup for a change, though I'm not very comfortable with the fact that the ones we're getting backup from are from Megele, don't get me wrong, having fellow women from Megele backing us up is all right with me, but having the military here….isn't very easing on my nerves."

The Spartan noted something odd about that particular statement and asked the question.

"You have some history with the military?"

Gascogne nodded and replied.

"I used to be in the Megele Navy, and served as a pilot and officer, and so did my sister."

"Sister?"

Gascogne nodded sadly and replied.

"Both she and I served in the navy but we were very different then, she was the calm one and always by the book, me? I was the passionate and fiery one, kind of like Hibiki and Barnette in a way. I used to be very unhappy with my sister's calm nature and always being collected since she seemed cold and distant, so we didn't exactly get along all that well with one another. But after…an accident that caused her to give her life to save mine and many others she told me why she was like that. It was hard for both of us but in the end I decided to be like her and keep my emotions controlled so I could be able to save more lives and not make mistakes."

The Master Chief nodded at that and replied.

"I can understand that."

Gascogne smiled and replied.

"I can bet that you would, I like what you did with that kid too, Hibiki's a lot better off under your charge, in fact, he idolizes you a great deal, with you taking him under your wing and making him your protégé and all."

"I noticed, I'll need to talk to him before the mission starts."

Gascogne nodded at that and got back to work as the Spartan left the Register and headed to the Hanger bay and there was Hibiki, and well enough there with him was Jura, Meia, and Dita, he then decided that it would be far better that he spoke to all four of them to plan out some key strategies, as soon as he walked up to them, Hibiki turned and saluted him and he returned the salute as Hibiki spoke to him.

"Good to see you Master Chief, sir!"

"At ease Hibiki, we all need to talk."

Hibiki did so as Meia smiled a bit while Jura smirked a bit as Dita smiled in greeting of Mr. Green Alien. The Tarak youth was currently dressed in his Marine Body Armor and carried his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle on his back while the others were already dressed in their uniforms though the Spartan began to think that in order to avoid injuries to the pilots, they were going to need some form of protective armor to make sure that they would be all right, their clothes might be more comfortable, but in his mind, the dangers of being injured where high so they needed far better protection.

He placed that aside for the moment as he spoke to the four of them.

"We need to talk about some important matters before the battle starts."

Meia had a feeling about than and replied.

"What do you have in mind?"

"For starters, we need to be ready for anything the Harvesters might have cooked up, we all know that just because they used the same tactics before, doesn't mean that they are not planning a new strategy or making new weapons, they did the same when they introduced that high speed fighter, their Urchin Ship, and of course the Copy VanDreads, they might have something new to throw at us this time."

The others nodded at that as they could see the point there and Jura replied.

"That's true, they could be using something new soon enough, but we can at least counter that in space, the VanDread Hibiki and I form with our machines should provide extra protection on the call."

"True, the shield can be key in protecting the attack teams and for other plans, so we'll keep that in reserve, Meia and Hibiki's VanDread can be key in making hit and run attacks first out, and of course Hibiki and Dita's VanDread can be key for closer battles and long range fire power. We're dealing with a large battle group so we'll need to soften them up as best we can in order to maximize the damage we can inflict."

Meia then had an idea.

"We can send small attack teams ahead to inflict as much damage as possible; Cortana's Longswords can be with the attack teams to cause as much damage as possible before moving back to the front lines."

The Master Chief thought of that as an excellent idea, if the attack teams can cause enough damage, it would cut down the attacking forces before the Nirvana and the two other ships so they would not be caught in a seriously dangerous situation that could prove to be a very dangerous trap for all involved, he turned and in walked Cortana and he smiled a bit at her as she joined them and they were soon joined by Barnette, the green haired woman had become a lot more receptive towards men though she was still not over her planet's teachings completely and she showed more respect to the Spartan, the Master Chief noticed that and knew that she was going to be key to this operation as she was skilled indeed as a Dread pilot and she would help in coordinating the plan once Hibiki, Dita, Jura, and Meia were on their own missions.

As they planned things out as a team, the Spartan wondered for a moment on what was happening back there in his own home dimension, he had a feeling that the UNSC and the Separatists were going to be rather busy with other matters soon enough.

********

Back in John's home dimension…

The new Battle Group was now being assembled and ready for their mission as the ships were currently getting their systems ready for the final trip before entering Slipspace and heading off to their target area to meet up with the Eternal Covenant Battle Group named the Fleet of Redemption, at the lead were three ships, one was naturally the Spirit of Fire, serving as a fleet support ship, along with two other ships, a UNSC Super Carrier

"Officer on deck!"

The bridge staff on the Spirit of Fire were quick to respond to the command as they all stood at full attention along with the Spartans of Red Team as Captain James Cutter came back into the ship, the elderly but still highly respected Captain returned the salute and spoke to the crew who he had served with for nearly three and a half decades.

"Status of the ship?"

One of the officers, responsible for the point defense weapons on the ship reported in.

"We have a full complement of MAC rounds in our stores as well as the Archer Missiles along with new plasma torpedoes as well as new plasma rounds loaded into the ship's main weapons along with our own supply of Shiva and Fenris Nuclear weapons sir, we even have a number of NOVA Bombs in case we find the Halo Rings to prevent the Eternal Covenant from trying to use them. We also have newly acquired defensive Laser Turrets as well as the Plasma batteries given to us by the Reborn to add power to our Point Defense Guns."

Cutter nodded as he turned to his other officer who was in charge of supplies for basic operations as well as the supplies needed by the Marines and ODSTs as well as the pilots and vehicle crews.

The woman didn't need to be asked as she gave her report.

"We have been given at least twenty years worth of food and drink supplies to restock our supplies for feeding the crew as well as extended operations in deep space, we have new supplies for our vehicles and the aircraft along with a new fleet of Supply ships and more new Firebase modules. The armories have been restocked with new weapons and munitions, we also happen to have been a large number of Covenant weapons as well as a new supply of the Weapon/Anti-Vehicle Model 6 Grindell/Galilean Nonlinear Rifles to give our soldiers more power against enemy aircraft and heavy armor, along with the newly produced Bubble Shields."

"Good, anything else?"

"Yes sir, we've gotten some new Robotic Rovers as well as a number of the new Huragok to help augment our technical divisions here on the ship as well as help with repair and maintenance on the ship as well as our ground forces. SO far, most of the crew are getting used to the arrival of the Huragok and also the new personnel we're getting into the ship's crew roster are still busy squaring things away before we get the deployment order from Lord Hood."

"Good, keep things running until we get the go ahead order."

"YES SIR!!!"

As Cutter looked through the view screen, he was greeted by Serina who was more than ready to stand and serve with her Captain once more.

"Good to see you up and about Captain."

"I can say the very same for you as well Serina, how are you holding up at the moment?"

"Apart from the major overhaul to my systems and the addition of a New Riemann Matrix, I feel perfectly fine and ready to do what I can."

Cutter nodded at that and turned to his bridge crew.

"All right, our mission as you are aware is to help deal with the reported activity of the Eternal Covenant who have been seen in the sector we're about to be traveling to, this will be the first time in several years since we got back to Earth and getting to see the friends and family that we thought were lost when the Covenant attacked Reach. The R&R did us all some good, but now it's time to go back and fight with what is left of the old Covenant."

"The new Covenant who named themselves the Reborn have been marked as allies and have thoroughly changed their appearance to show that fact, and many of them happen to be led by Elites. Many of us, including myself cannot easily forgive the Elites for their part in the start of the way several decades before, but now we are to work with them to end the remaining threats of the Eternal Covenant. If anyone has any problems with this mission, then tell me now."

Cutter looked at the people before him, there he saw that none of them seem to have any problems with the idea and that was something that he hoped would remain that way, for now he looked things over from his command console until Serina called his attention.

"Excuse me Captain Cutter, but I'm getting a transmission from Lord Hood."

"Patch it through Serina."

Soon, the COM system revealed Lord Hood and the leader of the UNSC spoke to Cutter.

"How is everything there on your ship Captain?"

"As good as it can get sir."

"Good, is Spartan Red Team onboard?"

"Yes sir, do you want me to have them come onboard to the Command Bridge?"

"Negative Captain, I have however a request, for them to be prepared to get their new MJOLNIR Mark VI units and the spare parts for their suit's maintenance and repair needs, we've just finished their construction in Songnam so it would be best that the Red Team get an upgrade in their armor."

Cutter nodded and replied.

"Understood sir."

As Lord Hood faded away, he turned to a nearby PA system and called in.

"Spartan Red Team, this Captain Cutter, report to the Bridge ASAP."

********

In one of the rooms of the Spirit of Fire…

As the Marines and personnel of the Spirit of Fire were getting their gear squared away as well as help with the moving of supplies for basic needs, the ones who were not working were currently resting for a moment or two before getting back to their duties, at the moment several of the ODSTs where busy checking their gear for their soon to come work on the field, or at least two of them were as their fellow ODSTs were currently chatting, having squared away their gear for the moment.

The leader of the group was Lieutenant 1st Class Edward Buck, famed for being one of the few men of the UNSC forces to have survived practically every major campaign taken by the UNSC against the Covenant for all the thirty years of fighting ever since the Covenant declared war with the UNSC, the highly respected ODST officer had lost a bit of his old hardness with the war being over and naturally his relationship with a certain Captain Veronica Dare had gone well enough as she was currently working in the Spirit of Fire as ONI's top agent in the newly rebuilt fleet known as Battle Group Washington.

As the rest of the group had been assigned to the Spirit of Fire, they were waiting for the order to head on out, it was then that Veronica arrived into the room and Edward smiled as he saw her, over the months of the peace that settled on the UNSC after the ceasing of hostilities with the Covenant the two had been able to rekindle their relationship and it was good thing that both of them were going to be in the same ship this time.

Veronica smiled and spoke first.

"Good to see you smiling again Edward."

"Hey, I'm only smiling cause you're here."

"Hah…charming"

The two kissed one another while the other three member of Buck's team were currently doing their own things, Kojo and Dutch were currently chatting up about what was going on with their off times before they were called back together to the battle ground, Mickey were currently reading a book to pass the time after packing in his weapons, and Lance Corporal James Dobson, was still sleeping like before in his ODST Body Armor Suit and his M7S near him after squaring away his gear. The four were so wrapped up in their own things that they barely noted the kiss between the two until Kojo saw that and whistled.

"Hey Boss, you want us to leave you two alone or get you both a private room?"

Edward turned and gave a glare to his squad's sniper expert.

"Why don't you gorram shut up Kojo?"

Kojo grinned at that and replied.

"All right Boss."

Veronica smiled and when the two moved aside she quickly spoke to Edward.

"You all right?"

Edward nodded at that as two grabbed a pair of chairs and sat down as he spoke.

"Yeah, the down time helps clear the old noodle more than some of the others think, anyway, I still can't believe that I'm onboard the ol' Spirit of Fire, I thought this ship was lost after that battle on some gorram forgotten section of space, care to fill me in?"

Veronica sighed a bit and reviewed what she recalled of the data that was given by the Captain of the ship. As soon as she was done, she told Buck about all the things she knew and afterwards, Edward whistled a bit at that.

"Damn, so she's fully refurbished?"

"Pretty much, most of the Huragok onboard are members of Vergil's group. The Spirit's fully rebuilt from the ground up, reinforced, you name it."

Edward smiled a bit at that.

"Speaking of old perfume pack, how's it going?"

"Pretty good, it's been happy to learn that the rest of its kin aren't slaves anymore."

It was then that two other ODSTs arrived on the scene and the taller one with the rank of Master Sergeant looked at Dutch's direction and spoke out.

"Been a while Dutch."

Dutch turned just as the ODST Officer removed his helmet to reveal a face that he recognized as he smiled a bit more as he got up and walked over to him and extended in his hand in a hand shake.

"It's good to see you again sir."

Master Sergeant Cortez smiled at the former member of his Fire Team and shook hands with him, after the mission, Dutch had been requested to be transferred from his unit for the battle of Ariel and that was the last he saw of Cortez, though he had heard that Cortez was busy doing other missions for the UNSC both on the front lines and behind it, he still looked the same as before, no doubt since he had been moving about in missions, Cortez spent plenty of time in cryo-stasis to get from one battle ground to another. Dutch had to admit that he was a bit worried about Cortez but seeing him here was good news to him, he then directed his attention to the other one who was in the ODST uniform and he already had a very good idea on just who it was.

"That you O'Brian?"

The ODST chuckled a bit and removed his helmet and showed his face, it was the blue eyed and red haired ODST Sniper O'Brian, it had been some time since Dutch had seen O'Brian ever since that mission long ago, the guy still looked the same and still a short guy, but he had no doubt about O'Brian's abilities as a Sniper since he was the one who killed the Prophet that he, Cortez, and Checkman had gone with Cal-141 at least some years ago. He was still somewhat short but he heard that O'Brian was still alive and kicking in battle and that was good news.

O'Brian then replied.

"Good to see you too Dutch, this your new team?"

Dutch grinned as he looked at the others as he introduced the two comrades he had been with before to the new team that he was assigned with.

"Yep, my commander, Edward Buck over there with Captain Veronica Dare, the one who's sleeping his butt off is James Dobson, the other's Mickey, and of course, the resident sniper and my buddy Kojo. Guys, this is Master Sergeant Cortez and O'Brian, I worked with them for a number of years before being transferred. You still the bitchin' fellow I knew O'Brian?"

O'Brian snorted and replied.

"Yeah, and you're still the same wise ass who rubbed me the wrong way when you open your flapping mouth Dutch, anyway, when did you get transferred to the Spirit?"

"Just a few weeks ago, nice to see some friendly faces, got to see my wife Gretchen after she got those new flash cloned limbs to help her recover, she wasn't too happy about me sticking around in the ODSTs, but she's all right with me helping out, though she's hoping that I get to be in the Motor Pool soon, I might take it up though I am going to have to get some training with being a grease monkey."

Edward then spoke to the three as he was curious about the whole thing.

"You three worked together before?"

Dutch nodded and looked at both Cortez and O'Brian as he knew that the things they were going to talk about were supposed to be kept as something of a very important secret. Cortez nodded and replied.

"Go ahead Dutch, it's time it came out anyway."

Dutch nodded as he, O'Brian, Cortez and the others with the exception of James who was still silently sleeping on the side took some seats and decided to get the story going. Dutch naturally was the story teller of the group and started it out.

"Years ago, me, Cortez, O'Brian, and Checkman were on the UNSC Destroyer Yamato on a mission to assassinate a Prophet who was in charge of some sort of supply and logistics base on the surface of a planet known as Heian, originally O'Brian was supposed to be the shooter, but he got relegated to being the backup, and the reason was the primary shooter for the mission was one of the Spartan II Commandos."

Kojo snorted and looked at O'Brian.

"You got yourself replaced by one of those so called super soldiers? Some sniper you turned out to be!"

O'Brian glared and so did Cortez but before things would get out of hand, both Edward and Veronica looked at him with Buck being the first to talk.

"Dutch is telling the story here Kojo, save your comments till it's over."

The female ONI officer then replied.

"I know of the mission, it was a success, but no one else talked about it on the view of the ground, so can it Marine."

Kojo would have normally commented about that, but he decided to keep quiet for now as he had admit that he was rather curious about this mission that Dutch had taken up and now was a good at time as any.

"All right, I'll keep my trap shut for now."

Dutch could tell that Kojo was serious and he continued with his story.

"Naturally we were not that pleased by High Command wanted us to keep our feelings to ourselves, we were not only going to assassinate the Prophet but also take picture of some ruins there, they were not made by either us or the Covenant and predate just about everyone. After a few minutes of preparation we got sent out, we lost Checkman in the drop, he struck an asteroid and burned up in the atmosphere, O'Brian here hit the side of a cliff and landed in a lake. After me and Cortez got out of our pods we tried to get the gear to get him out. Cal on the other hand just walked into the lake without any trouble, reached O'Brian's pod, grabbed it and literally lifted the thing and tossed it out of the lake as if it was something Spartans do everyday."

"Cal then pried off the door and out came O'Brian, downright pissed at being tossed around, and after telling him of Checkman and how close we lost him, we hustled off to the target zone, O'Brian here took every chance to needle Cal but the Spartan didn't seem to care at all about that, we got to the ruins, and even if it's been years, I still think about the place now and then, we had to kill some Grunts there who were watching the place, but somehow one of them spotted O'Brian, he took them out but one Brute Chieftain tried to turn O'Brian into paste, somehow Cal saved his ass from the Chieftain and taking a long drink into the nearby lake after nearly falling on a water fall. Cal even carried him bridal style if I recall, but that Spartan sure knew how to fight, took that Chieftain alone in hand to hand combat, damn near killed it too"

O'Brian shook his head at the memory of that and Kojo tried not to snort at the last part as well as not laugh at the part where O'Brian was carried by Cal bridal style, as Dutch continued with the story.

"Anyway, we took all the data we could of the ruins and got to our area for the sniper mission just as the prophet's ship arrived on site, Cal was setting up while the rest of us watched for a possible attack, while we were setting up, the Brute Chieftain came back and tried to kill us again, O'Brian was about to get hit sideways by the damn thing's Gravity Hammer, but Cal pushed him out of the way and took the hit on the face and shoulder, just as the Prophet was on the move, all three of us tackled the bastard and I shot him full in the face with my M7S, after it died, we tried to check on Cal, with Cortez removing the helmet that was badly damaged. Back then…we thought Cal was a man like the rest of us, we were wrong, Cal was a woman and that surprised all of us, she had severe head injury and no doubt a broken shoulder, and she ordered O'Brian to take the shot since he's the only sniper left. O'Brian did it and the mission was over."

"We tried to help her as best we could, but her injuries were pretty bad, but all she did was give us the data chip on the ruins and told us to hand it to the head of their Program, Catherine Halsey, saying she'll know what to do. She was dying already and Cortez here tried to assure her that she was the one to hand it to Halsey herself, but we all knew it wasn't going to happen. Afterwards….she died in front of us, even if she did wear that half a ton of armor, we sure as hell were not going to leave her behind cause who knew what the Covenant would do to her body if they found her, we carried her to the evac site. After we got back we had the chip sent to Halsey and we, or at least me and Cortez even got into a fight with a Marine who insulted Cal's abilities."

Dutch shook his head at the memories and replied.

"I never talked about that to anyone else since it was supposed to be black ops and not to be mentioned."

Kojo shook his head a bit and looked at Dutch with a surprised eye.

"You never told me you worked with a Spartan."

"You never asked."

The colonial born ODST sighed and spoke.

"All right, so maybe Spartans ARE all that they are cracked up to be, but still, I'd like to see them in action myself so I can really be convinced."

It was then that a voice came out, and it was the kind associated with Spartans.

"You are going to get your chance."

The ODSTs turned and there before them were three Spartan IIs, and the red markings on their MJOLNIR Mark VI Powered Assault Armor showed them to be the fabled Spartan Red Team of the Spirit of Fire, the three walked over to the group and the one who spoke earlier turned to face Dutch, Cortez, and O'Brian and he spoke.

"The name's Jerome-092, leader of Red Team, this is my squad, Alice-130, and Douglas-042, you three were with Cal-141 until the end?"

The three nodded and the Spartans seemed to relax though it was hard for the ODSTs to be sure since there was no way for them to see for sure, but they didn't have to wait long before Douglas spoke next, he was the quiet one of the group but he was no reclusive person to say the least in most senses, while many Spartans were quiet and calm unless around other Spartans, there were others who were more open and vocal.

"And she gave her life to save your life for the third time?"

O'Brian knew that the question was directed at him and he nodded, normally before he met Cal, he would have been like the others in the ODSTs, and that was being hostile and wary to Spartans, but he had changed a good deal and replied to the question directed to him by Douglas as he knew that this Spartan deserved an answer to his question.

"Yes she did."

Douglas nodded a bit and replied.

"Then she did what she could to make sure the mission was accomplished, and she won't be forgotten, not by any of us."

The ODSTs were surprised by this until Alice-130 spoke.

"Douglas and Cal were close back then when we were still on Reach, at any rate, at least we got to meet the men who were there to be with her in her final moments, she was more than a fellow Spartan, she was a sister to us all. Anyway, we best let you all relax and get ready, we're going off to fight the enemy once more."

Jerome-092 nodded and saluted Captain Dare and the three left the ODSTs and Kojo had to whistle and shake his head.

"Now that was different."

Dare then spoke.

"You'd be surprised, a large number of the personnel here in the Spirit have a great deal of respect for Red Team, even the ODSTs here have tremendous respect for the Spartans, so they are not all that keen that people disrespect the Spartans, so if anyone else with the exception of Dutch, Cortez, and O'Brian have issues with the Spartans, then I suggest you keep it to yourselves."

Edward sighed and replied.

"For me, I don't care if they are Spartans, if they fight against the enemy then they're welcome on my side of the pool anytime of the day."

Dare smiled and that was that.

********

In the Marathon-Class Cruiser Miranda Keyes…

The activity on the Miranda Keyes was very much the same as that of the Spirit of Fire as the leader of the ship was busy looking over the information of the crew's readiness as well as the supplies that they had for the soon to come mission into the area where the Reborn were holed up and causing all sorts of mischief.

Admiral Robert Whitcomb looked over his newly built ship and was happy that things were going smoothly for the time being as he was ready to go and take the fight to the Reborn Covenant and make sure that they were not going to go about and cause more death and suffering for the people of the UNSC, his brother died fighting them and through his efforts, he had severely weakened the Covenant forces that had come to attack Earth before Truth's own fleet came on the scene, which was why it was an honor for him to take up the reins and help in the fight and the mission before him.

At this moment the ship was still in the process of final checks before it and the rest of it's battle group were going to move out and head off to the new battle zone, the Marathon Class Cruisers were once built to supersede the older Halcyon-Class Cruisers and these ships were considered to be the most powerful of their line, armed with enough firepower to really cut through most opposition and with the technology of the Reborn plus the new materials and manpower, the Marathon-Class Cruisers were making a serious come back into the battle field. Many of them were used to defend the Inner Colonies and Earth and just as many were either severely damaged or destroyed by the Covenant in their initiation invasion of Earth. Ever since the alliance with the Sangheili and the end of the UNSC-Covenant War, the Marathon-class Cruisers were being rebuilt and redesigned to incorporate tried and tested technology with ne Covenant technology.

And the Miranda Keyes was one such ship that had undergone a considerable number of changes to fit the new alliance, like the new UNSC ships and those that were retrofitted, she was armed with a heavy shielding system to augment the naturally present ten meters worth of Titanium A armor plating as well as the armor plating being reinforced by Covenant alloys to make the armor lighter and more resilient to energy and solid weapons fire, apart from the defensive systems, the Miranda Keyes carried a number of enhanced sensor networks and improved communications arrays to increase both command and control functions for a fleet, and it also made sure that the ship would be able to have the ability to scan ahead to avoid enemy ambushes. The armaments were also improved, apart from the two standard MAC Cannons, the cannons were now armed with an option to use plasma rounds, this would further increase the overall damage potential of the warship as the plasma was made to fire at a much faster rate and a much further distance, making the plasma rounds a serious weapon of war. The UNSC then had to improve the coolant mixtures to make sure that the MAC Cannons as well as the ship's other key systems didn't suffer severe damage from the use of the gathered Plasma. Apart from this, the Archer Missiles were given improved warhead load-outs as well as advanced guidance packages to improve their power, and they were even equipped with some form of shield jamming technology that was recently developed by the UNSC scientific community that could allow the Archers to finally have an easier time cutting through energy shields, The 50mm Point Defense Guns were still present but this time were supported by more advanced plasma turret batteries and much larger Needler Cannons to further add to the firepower, as well as new and improved Pulse Lasers as well as several turrets that were armed with UNSC Laser weapons derived the from the Spartan Laser weapons for defense as well as some now fully integrated M68 Gauss Cannon Turrets for extra firepower, making the Marathon a bristling weapon of war.

In terms of power, the Fusion Engines were improved and incorporated Covenant engine designs as well to boost power output to help deal with the new systems being installed. The ship also had power stations for Covenant weapons installed all over the ship to add to the powerful arsenal of the Marine and ODST contingents stationed onboard as well as their current UNSC arsenals. The power supply was supported another set of Fusion Engines to further increase the power needed by the Miranda Keyes to support the new additions to it's arsenals, And in the case of their Slipspace Drive System, this was a hybrid engine with UNSC and Covenant influence to make it more effective in it's functions. The engines also underwent many changes as well to address the need for power, speed, and safety. The ship also now had a contingent of Huragok to support any needs for repairs for the crews onboard.

All these changes have given the UNSC Navy a serious boost in power and technology, something that had become a major boon due to the alliance between the UNSC and the Reborn Covenant, and as much as Robert had not forgotten the

The UNSC Marines were currently getting their gear squared away for the new mission that they were going to undertake soon, and right now, several of the Marines were chatting and one of them, spoke a bit negatively about the Spartans and their accomplishments, unfortunately for him, his antics attracted the wrong kind of attention as the other Marines suddenly snapped at full attention and when he looked, he reacted the same way.

The Marine recruit was standing up and attention and for good reason as the Gunnery Sergeant was glaring at him with a gaze that would have put a Brute to shame when in a raging frenzy.

The sergeant was an African American woman who was smoking a Sweet William cigar and had her hair in the usual UNSC Marine regulation cut and had on a sergeant's cap, she was tall and very athletic, with the kind of build that would have been that of a super model and had deep brown eyes with a hint of grey , had she been a dancer or a regular civilian and had her hair in a regular style, she would have been quite the beauty. But while she was good looking, she was hardnosed and very much strong and tough, the aura of a skilled Marine was in her…

Just like her father…

Gunnery Sergeant Jessica Al-Cygni Johnson placed out her cigar aside and released some of the smoke and once she was done, she quickly berated the recruit.

"You got some nerve talking about the Master Chief in that fashion Private… you care to tell me why?"

"Uh…."

The female sergeant was not in the mood for delays and spoke once more.

"All right maggot…I want an answer to my question at this moment on why you are insulting the Master Chief or else I am going to make you clean every latrine on this ship with your own tongue until you can't tell the difference between crap and hard tack, do you get me soldier?!"

"Ma'am! I just think that those stories of the Spartans were just ONI propaganda…"

Jessica snorted and replied.

"So you think that those stories about Spartans risking their lives with fellow human Marines is all nothing but a crock of bullshit?! Let me remind you that if it hadn't been for those Spartans risking their necks with us, then the UNSC and Earth would either been glassed the Covenant Loyalist or overrun by those goddamn Flood, and if it hadn't been for the Master Chief taking that mission to end the whole war, you would either be dead or turned to ash! Or is that bit of history something you think the spooks at ONI cooked up?"

Jessica looked at the rest of the Marines who were silent, she eyed them carefully and replied.

"Let's get one thing straight men, those Spartans gave everything they got to help us win this war with both the Covenant and the Flood, and as such, they are as human as anyone of you here in this room, so you will show them respect or the next time I hear you ladies insult the Spartans or the Master Chief, I will personally shove my boots up your ass so high that when you spit, you'll be spitting out shoe polish! Is that clear?!"

"Yes Ma'am!"

"Good, now get back to work, the ship launches in three hours so make sure you everything squared away before then."

Jessica then left the area and as soon as she was out of sight, the Marine recruit relaxed and spoke out.

"Man…what's with the Sarge?"

That was when one of the Marines spoke out.

"Hey man, you're damn lucky that you got away from that the way it happened, her old man rode shotgun with the Master Chief after all and she's considered the Spartan as something a of a family friend, or so I hear."

"What? Who's her old man?"

"Sergeant Major Avery J. Johnson ring a bell?"

"No way….you mean she's the daughter of?"

"Yep, her old man was one of the heroes of the war we had with the Covenant, and has fought with the Master Chief for years, so you can bet that she holds her father's friend in high regard so she's got a respect for the Master Chief…and she isn't the only one."

"What do you mean?"

The senior Marine then replied.

"A good number of the older guys here served with the Master Chief in the battles here on Earth man…so if they heard you bad mouthing the Chief…they are NOT going to be happy with it, so I suggest you try not to cause trouble with them."

And that was true…a considerable number of the UNSC Marines onboard the Miranda Keyes were veterans of several of the hardest battles here on Earth and many of them had taken part in the battles where the Master Chief had been so they were very much on the side of the Master Chief and that meant for the new recruits that if they have issues with the Spartans, then they best keep those opinions to themselves.

********

As she got to her bunk, Jessica sighed as she then looked at a picture taken of her father being given the Colonial Cross by Lord Hood, alongside Commander Miranda Keyes and the Master Chief himself, it still amazed her that her father was such a famous hero and friends with one of the famed Spartans and the most recognized one of the whole group known as the Master Chief. She smiled at her father's face and wished that she had been able to speak to him.

She was born twenty years after her father and mother's first battle with Covenant back on Reach and she had very much been on special trips with her mother for a very long time since her mother Jilan was part of ONI, she had often asked her mother who her father was and it was when she was ten that her mother told her who her father was and since they were currently in another Inner Colony at the time, they had not gotten much news on him despite Jilan being part of ONI, however it did both her and her mother proud to know that Avery had survived so many battles and that served to make Jessica all the more proud of her father.

It was only when she was around twenty that she decided to take the course of being a Marine, she would have taken the path of her mother and enrolled in ONI as she had all the traits that would make her an excellent member of her mother's side of the UNSC forces, intelligent, dedicated, and practical, but she wanted to be a Marine like her father and her mother was not against it. She passed the basic training with flying colors and soon began to be a Marine in the front lines, apart from attacking the Colonies they found, the Covenant before had sent out recon and raiding teams to cause as much damage as possible and Kig-Yar, being pirates would routinely attack Colonies without any warning, this helped her gain experience in fighting the Covenant, and a few scars as well as she gently touched a scar on her shoulder where a Jackal had managed to graze her with a shot from it's Beam Rifle before she quickly took out the Jackal with her own BR55 HB SR Battle Rifle.

She proved herself as a skilled soldier, rising from Private to each higher rank as she underwent a number of missions and killing a good number of the Covenant forces while also dealing with Insurrectionists who usually cropped up to cause headaches for the UNSC. In those battles she displayed many amazing traits, both physical and mental to the amazement of her fellow Marines and even her own amazement as well as she did them. That was what made her each her current rank for her actions in saving fellow Marines from death or capture

It was not long before her mother told her that her father was a member of a covert project to test genetic augmentations on soldiers, and that was where she got her amazing physical abilities and traits. Jilan told her that her father was a Spartan I and would explain many of his accomplishments as well as her own, she had found out about the project recently when she was surprised that ONI had a file on Avery and there she learned of his participation in the ORION Project, which was the precursor to the Spartan II program that gave birth to the famed Spartan II Commandos, thus making her father an equal to them. Jilan was surprised by this and so was Jessica, but they knew of the many things that Johnson had done in the war and so they were utterly proud of him, with Jessica being the prouder one as she vowed to use her abilities to serve the UNSC to the best of her capacity.

After the end of the UNSC-Covenant war, she decided to visit the site where her father's name was etched and also the Museum of Humanity that was constructed there on Earth and it was there that she was able to meet none other than Lord Hood. Jessica had to admit that meeting the head of the UNSC was a bit hard but what happened next in that meeting was something else entirely.

Flashback…

Jessica was in full attention as she was before Lord Hood.

"Gunnery Sergeant Jessica Al-Cygni Johnson reporting for duty Lord Hood."

Hood nodded and replied.

"At ease Gunnery Sergeant, it's good to see you in person, I've been reading your records and I must admit that you have an impressive reputation."

"Thank you sir!"

Hood smiled and spoke.

"Good, you do your father proud; I am to assume that you are aware of your father's….status as a Spartan 1 Gunnery Sergeant?"

"Yes sir, I am proud of my father's record and his contributions to end the war between the Covenant and the UNSC."

Hood nodded at that.

"Good, there's a reason I asked you to meet me here Gunnery Sergeant, your was father was on the only Spartan I, and you are not the only Spartan 1.1 in record, there are several others, they recently attempted to fight the Covenant on their terms as something of a private army, however, their operations were cut short when the Covenant showed up in the area and invaded Earth. They are still alive and I have brought them here for you to meet."

Jessica was surprised as she now saw that she was not the only one and soon enough several people were brought in and she looked at them, one was a female blonde who was Caucasian and carried herself with considerable strength and power, the other was a dark brown haired man who was tall and also well built like the kind of build one saw when they looked at athletes, another looked to be a rich kid but not the scrawny kind either and of Asian build, another was an African American like her though in this case the new one was a male, the other was a male Italian from the looks of him and he gave her a smile that she ignored for the moment, the other was a Mexican female who had her hair in a series of dreadlocks and an old style necklace of shells, another was a female European with deep red hair and amber eyes, another was a Japanese male who had his hair in a ponytail, two more who were red haired twins and siblings, and the last three were brown haired youths, one was a woman and the last two were also twins.

Lord Hood then spoke to the assembled Spartan 1.1s

"Good to see you gentlemen and ladies, you know me already as Lord Hood, current head of the UNSC, I am well aware of your previous battles with the Covenant when they came to Earth and your original plans to fight them before, and I also know for a fact that you all are Spartan 1.1s. Do not think however that I am here to have you arrested or harmed, in fact, I have another thing to tell you. The officer before you is Gunnery Sergeant Jessica Al-Cygni Johnson of the UNSC Marine Corps…and like you is a Spartan 1.1."

The other Spartan 1.1s were surprised and they looked at Jessica who nodded as she spoke.

"My father….was Avery Junior Johnson, and he was part of the ORION Project."

The dark brown haired one spoke.

"I know just about everyone in the Spartan 1.1s, so how come I never heard of you?"

"My mother was a Lieutenant in ONI. I could have chosen to work with her, but I chose to be in the Marines to honor my father and she agreed and she was the one who told me about my father being a Spartan 1, she never told me of the others with my dad having children."

"Hmph, guess she must be Section III then."

Jessica glared and moved forward in an aggressive manner, forgetting for a moment that Lord Hood was there as she was not happy with the way this guy was talking about her mother.

"You got something about my mother being in ONI?!"

"Gunnery Sergeant, stand down."

Jessica stopped and showed some shame for her actions but not before scowling at the young man and he replied in kind but even he was quiet when Lord Hood spoke.

"The reason I brought you all here is to offer you all positions as members of the UNSC, I am aware that some of you have issues with the UNSC turning down some of your applications and your leader here does not want to be under Section IIIs thumb, you have assurance from me that you are not going to be under their command at all. You want to serve Humanity, then here is your chance, under my personal signature you are to become members of the UNSC, the only thing needed is for you to say yes or no."

The apparent leader spoke.

"And if we chose to say no?"

Lord Hood replied.

"Then you have my personal promise that you will not be harmed or sought out in any fashion by ONI or other organizations, you are free to do what you like and live the way you want in accordance with the law. Is that all right with you Kevin Morales?"

Kevin Morales looked at Lord Hood and then to the other Spartan 1.1s and replied.

"I take it there are some strings attached if we say yes?"

"There are only two, the first is that you are to undergo the full extent of the UNSC's basic military training regimes and courses. And the second is that you will all be under the command of Gunnery Sergeant Jessica."

Kevin was surprised at this and so was Jessica herself as she finally spoke.

"Lord Hood, Permission to speak?"

"Granted."

"Why are you asking me to lead them?"

"You are an official member of the UNSCDF Gunnery Sergeant and you have plenty of operational field time in fighting the Covenant as well as the Insurrectionists who are still causing headaches to the UNSC. You might not be aware of this, but I have high respect for the Spartans of the Master Chief's group, not just for their accomplishments but for the fact that they saved my life twice and have never given up. And that respect now extends to you all, you are all Spartans, I want you to be given the chance to serve Humanity on your own free will, you already have the gifts and talents, and truth be told, you are more than qualified for the Program and would make excellent Spartans. But you are human as well, you have the right to decide to accept this offer or turn it down. It is up to you, I will not stop you or detain any of you if you all walk out right now. It is your choice."

Kevin looked at Lord Hood and nodded.

"All right, I accept."

The others nodded and Lord Hood smiled warmly at that and replied.

"All right, I therefore welcome you as members of the United Nations Space Command Defense Force."

End of Flashback…

Jessica sighed at the memories and she couldn't help but hope that she was ready for this, Kevin and his teams might have breezed through the training for a few months but she was about to see how they operated well as a team in a real combat situation, and for a moment, she wondered just how her father would have reacted to the situation his little girl was getting into. But then she smiled, she was daddy's girl, a tough and ready to fight girl for that matter. She looked at the last picture of her father in his Marine Dress Whites and with the Master Chief and Miranda Keyes, and hoped that she could live up to their example, both her father and the Master Chief were Spartans who gave their lives and souls to defend the UNSC and humanity, and now it was her turn.

It was then that there was a knock of her door and she opened the door, she looked at the Marine before her.

"What is it?"

"Excuse me Ma'am, but the new recruits you were left in charge with by order of Lord Hood are here."

"Thanks for the heads up Lance Corporal Dubbo."

"Not a problem Ma'am."

Another Marine joined them and it was none other than Pete Stacker as he got ready and was eager for the mission to go ahead, he was eager for a chance to get back into the fight.

********

In the UNSC Super Carrier Jacob Keyes…

At the moment, the leader of the of the Super Carrier Jacob Keyes was also deep in thought as well as the activity on the ship continues after she had given her orders to the rest of the crew in order to get the ship ready for the oncoming mission that lay before them. She then looked at the picture before her and couldn't help but sigh a bit at the face of her uncle who's name was now being used by her ship.

Commander Michelle Keyes wondered just how her uncle would have reacted to the news that in honor of his courage, skills, honor, and more to the war that he was now having a ship named after him, he would have just shrugged and accepted it and went back to his duties in his own fashion, doing himself proud. She wished that bother her uncle and cousin were around to see the newly founded peace between the Separatists and the UNSC, it would have shocked his socks off and her cousin would have smiled as she would have wanted peace in her time. Michelle couldn't help but feel some measure of sadness at this as she knew that her wish was not going to come true at all. Her uncle had been lost to the Flood and her cousin was slain by the Prophet of Truth, the only time that sanctimonious maniac had ever dirtied his hands himself with fighting.

Every time she thought of that she felt such anger at the Prophet, but she had to admit that with the bastard removed from the picture, there was enough peace for all of humanity to enjoy and time for them to rebuild and recover from the war. Now there was a new Prophet spewing more nonsense now and the UNSC and their Reborn allies were going to answer that with force, she was not going to let another war spark out once again and have all that they had strived to rebuilt be torn down by another one of those religious hysterics.

She looked at her command staff and she turned to one of the Marines under her roster as he seemed to have something to speak about.

"What is it Master Sergeant Banks?"

The African American saluted and spoke.

"Ma'am, the supplies for the ship are now in order and stored away."

"Good Master Sergeant, what about our Marines and the ODST forces?"

"They are getting their gear stored away and things seem to be working up for them, I believe we are ready to move out as soon as we're given the all clear signal from Admiral Robert."

"Good, let's get ready for that."

Marcus saluted Michelle and he left as she looked once more at the void of space and got herself mentally relaxed for the fight with what was left of the old Covenant.

********

Lieutenant 1st Class Reynolds looked over the reports and sighed as he was eager to finally quit the damned desk job and get back to beating those damned dirty Baby Kongs, he still owed them for giving him that damned scar with one of their Spikers. The Lieutenant was more of a battle hardened warrior and not a desk jockey and he was eager to finally get back to the battle ground.

Another Marine arrived and saluted him.

"What is it?"

"Everything has been set up sir."

"Thanks Nunez, time for me to put these darned papers away and get back to the action."

********

Back in the VanDread dimension…

As the Nirvana got into position, the Ruby Rapier and the Titan's Wrath were also on the move, the crews of both ships were able to make the needed repairs to the ships and they were getting into position for the soon to come battle. From the converted pirate ship came out a strike team of Longswords with several Pelican Drop-ships. The Longsword were given their usual armament, however in this case, there were several reinforced pods on their wings and as soon as the Longsword broke through the atmosphere, the pods fell away and soon opened up to reveal the Wombats themselves.

As soon as they were deployed, the Wombats powered up and began to fly over the planet to get the lay of the land to relay back to both the Nirvana and the ground teams, there were at least three dozen, each flying a full four hundred and fifty meters from one another in order to maximize the recon range that they had and the Wombats worked in threes as they scanned the planet while the Pelicans were maintaining their flight pattern with the Spartans above.

Linda looked down through the images and spoke to the others using her COM system.

"Place seems too quiet to me."

Tom nodded in agreement and so did Mark.

"Yeah, there should be some noise at least."

John spoke to the others.

"Let's get some of the initial data first before making a move Team, once we get the all clear, then get ready for full aerial insertion."

"Roger!"

John checked the data and waited for the results and it seemed that so far, the area of the location before them appeared to be clear of most if not all contacts of Flood, but he was not going to take chances as the group made it to just where the ship was and soon enough, they were able to spot the massive Key-Ship, even if it was in a bad angle and it looked like it had seen better days, the ship was still an undeniably impressive sight.

Leena whistled.

"Damn….that is one big ship….makes me wish Lt. Kurt could see this."

Cade nodded in agreement, he had never seen a ship that size before, makes just about every ship in the UNSC and even in the Covenant look like a bunch of figurines, the other Spartan IIIs were surprised and even if she hid her expressions, one who was gifted in Spartan body language could easily tell that Lucy herself was utterly impressed.

John however focused on the task at hand when Cortana's voice finally came on his helmet speakers.

"The data shows no sign of the Flood infestation on the ground John, and there seems to be no sign of Flood Biomass all over the ship, but I have detected something on that ship."

"What is it?"

"A large residual presence of energy radiation, and while it's severely depleted it's still around, and here's the deal….I've run some calibrations, and it seems that this entire ship was hit by a blast from Halo."

"What? Are you sure Cortana?"

"Positive, Dr. Catherine and I just ran the analysis with the data I got from the time in the Ark and that of what she got from her time in that Shield World of Onyx, the energy radiation matches that of the energy unleashed by the Halo Array, I think this ship must have been part of the Fleet that fought with the Flood, if that's true, then this ship must be over one hundred thousand years old."

John thought of the implications of that and decided to place it aside for the moment as he spoke to her once more.

"Do we have a clear drop zone Cortana?"

"Right there, it's a fair distance from the Key-ship so you and the others are going to have to fast walk it there to the site, so far there's no sign of the Flood, but if the data is right on the money, you and the other Spartans can withstand them if they try to infect you. Still be careful, just because the sensors tell you that there's no sign of Flood doesn't meant there aren't any at all in the area."

"Got it, we're touching down now."

Cortana's reference to him and the Spartans being in safer hands was due to the augmentations done to their nervous system, the superconducting fabrication of the neural dendrites had somehow given the Spartans immunity to being infected by the Flood, possibly due to the fact that their nervous system had been enhanced to no longer be compatible with the transforming effects of the Flood's ability to rewrite a host's DNA patterns and body through latching on the spinal cord and then taking over brain functions then transforming the body. This made the Spartans unique to the Flood as they couldn't be assimilated easily.

This was discovered by Cortana and Catherine only recently as they had run some tests on the data the Forerunner had on the Flood themselves, and when they worked on it, it showed that since the Spartans' nervous systems had been altered in such a fashion, the Flood would read it a irreparable damage and thus the former host is immune to infestation. This was why the Spartans were the first in and the Nirvana forces were going to go down there with them in full protection since they were immune to the Flood already.

As the Pelicans landed on the ground, the Spartans were quick to hit the ground and were ready to go out and do their mission.

********

In the Nirvana…

Cortana turned and spoke to Magno and Buzam as she was currently in her AI form.

"John and the other Spartans have hit the ground Captain."

"Good, have the salvage teams on standby and get the crew selected to get the NOVAs ready for transport to the surface."

"Roger that Captain."

In the Nirvana's hanger several large containers were being loaded into a number of transports for the mission as well as anti gravity sleds, and most of all seven powerful weapons were now being loaded into a lone Albatross Drop-ship with the call-sign of Horseman-071, it's cargo was too valuable for regular transport and was under heavy guard by the half of the Nirvana Fire Teams and that was why they were supplemented by a strike team of Talvernians to make sure that the cargo was secured and on lockdown for transport to the surface.

After all, on the ship were seven UNSC WMDs and only one of them was reported to be capable of literally breaking a planet into two pieces and the fact that there were seven of them in the Albatross was not lost to the crew who were selected to carry them, Hana and Lisa were the pilots while Felix and three of his fellow Talvernians, Sandra, Callista Fawkes and George Conrad were there as well to help them in the mission, Felix and Callista were the security and Sandra as well as George were there to make sure the bombs were up to the task before them and were at their best levels to be effective for the mission that they were soon going to be used in.

********

On the surface…

John quickly made several hand signals to his fellow Spartan IIs and the Spartan IIIs to move quickly to the sight, the Master Chief was armed with his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle and a M90A Shotgun on his back as well, he also carried a number of Plasma and Frag Grenades, as well as a pair of Plasma Rifles on his thighs. Kelly was with him armed with the same MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle and a BR55 HB SR Battle Rifle on her back as well as the same compliment of grenades that John had, she also had a pair of Plasma Rifles on her sides, Fred was armed with an MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle as well as a pair of Plasma Rifles on his thighs along with his grenades and his pair of Combat Knives. Linda was armed with her trusty SRS99D-S2 AM Sniper Rifle as well as an Energy Carbine made from the design plans of the Covenant Carbine itself, as well as a full complement of grenades on her person.

The rest of the Spartan IIIs were also well armed, with an assortment of UNSC weapons such as their trademark MA5K Carbines, the BR55 HB SR Battle Rifles, the MA5C ICWS Assault Rifles, the SRS99D-S2 AM Sniper Rifles, and M7 SMGs.

While John himself would have preferred to carry lighter weapons, he knew that they were going to need as much firepower as they could manage to carry. This was a situation where heavy fire power won over maneuverability and speed since they had no idea what they were going to find in this ruined Key-ship. He recalled his own time there and how much of a battle it was when he tried to kill Truth and get past all those guards. He had been captured before but had been able to fight his way out of that and landed back on Earth afterwards to take the fight on a more ground based level.

He placed those thoughts aside as he looked about in the ruined ship, he could see massive amounts of plasma burn marks, showing that the crew of the Forerunner ship had put up a hell of a fight with the Flood and he couldn't help but feel some measure respect to the Fore-runners, they might have been the cause of the UNSC-Covenant War, but they did what they could to safe guard the races they encountered, but they died in the attempt. He turned and spotted what appeared to be an entrance of sorts in the ship.

He signaled the Spartans as the Wombats and the Pelicans flew overhead as air support for his team, and when they got there, they could tell that this was going to be an issue. Tom signaled the other Spartan IIIs to form a defensive perimeter in the area to allow him and the other Spartan IIs to get to work, he, Fred, Linda, and Kelly each took either side of the door and then they pulled the doors in either direction, the sound of grinding parts could be heard in that exact moment as it had indeed required the strength of all four Spartan IIs in order to get the door open, as soon as they were able to get the door pried, the Spartan IIs moved into the room and began their exploration, but not before the Master Chief made the call to the rest of the ground teams that were hovering above in the Pelicans and the Albatross Drop-ships.

"This is Spartan-117 to ground personnel, be prepared for landing operations."

"Roger that Chief! We're sending down the Power Armors and several Cyclops and Vanguards units."

The Spartan nodded as several Pelicans came down and several of the Nirvana Fire Teams, namely Fire Teams Alpha, Bravo, and Fox were on the ground in Parfait's Power Armor, the suits had been vacuum sealed as well as given extra inner plating in order to counter the possibility of the Flood's Infection Forms getting to them, the head engineer was able to do this after being given all the relevant data on the Flood and how they would affect their victims and thus the Suits were improved in that regard.

The women were not alone however was several Talvernians under the command of one of the high ranking officers; one Sergeant Grant Tasco came on the scene piloting some of the modified Vanguards. Normally such a force would have difficulty getting in, but the Spartan was sure that they could figure something out, and they had as several of the Vanguards were able to carry modified plasma saws that were much larger than before. These were made after Parfait was able to take a full look at the Energy Sword that they had on the ship.

The plucky head engineer managed to get the basics down pat and used it with the current Megele technology that they had on hand and created a much larger version of the weapon which she dubbed as Plasma Saws, designed to cut through heavy substances, she believed that this would work both as a tool and a weapon, the first being used to cut through heavy obstacles as well as cut through areas that would impede progress, and as a weapon…it spoke for itself and was quite an achievement by any standard as this was the very first time that anyone had ever tried to make an Energy Sword that could be carried by robotic units. This added to the deadly power of the Vanguards, but required them to be overhauled with a secondary fusion power cell to accommodate the Plasma Saws on their arms. However, the increased weapons load-out for close combat was a good trade off, plus the Vanguards still had their mobility as they could easily shed the weapons off of themselves if needed.

The Power Armors also carried a pair of new weapons to further expand their roles in battle. Parfait had been able take a number of available weapon packages that were on hand and was able to create laser rifles for them, though rifle was a bit of an understatement. The weapon was actually a Dread Laser weapon package system that had been made for the battles with the resources they had been able to accumulate, as well as the surplus packages that they had on hand before. The head engineer was able to modify the packages to be lighter and in a smaller form, this resulted in making a portable laser cannon that was normally used in Dreads. While not as small as the Spartan Laser itself and less portable, it made due with a much faster firing rate and decreased charging cycle, making it ideal for combat use by the Power Armors after Parfait removed most of the components that were intended for Dread use and made them into portable cannons for the Power Armors to use in conjunction with the Spartan Lasers.

The Power Armors were also using something that both Parfait and Dr. Catherine had been able to construct and that was a portable Plasma Flame thrower, this used a very powerful mixture of plasma gas that was channeled through a special cycling chamber but unlike the Covenant Plasma Rifle, this was designed to unleashed a wide stream of the super heated plasma gas instead of forming it into a solid mass. This made it deadly in combat as it's super heated plasma blast was five to seven times hotter than the fuel mixture of the standard UNSC Flame Thrower and made it downright deadly.

The weapons would prove to be very helpful in dealing with whatever threats were onboard the ship and it was not going to be long for them to find out just what sort of threats were in this vessel, just because the Wombats had shown that there was no sign of any Flood activity on the outside of the planet, doesn't mean that there was no internal activity as well. The Spartans were quickly switching on their flashlights while the Vanguards did the same with their built in search lights and the women in the Power Armors did the very same thing.

There were four groups to explore the whole ship from top to bottom, there was one Spartan II in command of the whole group with several women in Power Armor while accompanied by one or two Vanguards as well as two or three of the Spartan IIIs themselves and the four groups were to scan the ship from top to bottom and eliminate the traces of the Flood that might be in the area of the ship. As they entered the vessel, the Spartans were able to see the results of what appeared to be a massive battle, inside the ship were large numbers of dead and now skeletal bodies of alien like figures dressed in some form of Armor, the areas were scored with burns from plasma fire from all sides, sections of the ship's internal structure were ruptured, barely held together by the ship's delicate super structure, The groups moved quickly to see just what this ship was from the inside so they relied on John's information to help them.

During his attempt to kill Truth en route to Earth, he had been able to record as much as he could of the Key Ship's internal design though he had not been to all of the rooms themselves, along the way they spotted bodies, or what were left of them and what appeared to be some form of armor suit. The Master Chief recovered one and quickly contacted the Nirvana.

"This is the Master Chief to the Nirvana."

"Go ahead Chief."

"Ma'am….I think we just found a Forerunner Combat Skin."

********

In the Nirvana's Bridge

Just as John and his team were looking at the suit itself, the bridge crew of the Nirvana were looking at it as well via data-link. The Forerunner Combat Skin appeared to be a human sized body suit layered with highly advanced alloy body armor plating, and a good deal of packs, the armor was silvery in hue with dark grey for the inner body suit, some form of pack was on the back of the suit while some parts of the armor appeared to be thicker in some regions of the body, the hands were five fingered, just like that of humans, next to the Combat Skin was some form of helmet that seemed to replicate that of a ODST helmet and a type of Plasma Rifle, similar to the ones carried by Covenant troopers like the Elites and several others, next to that was a Plasma Pistol and even some form of handle, no doubt that of an Energy Sword.

The crew of the Nirvana were all looking amazingly at the images before them, seeing the interior of the actual alien ship from the view points of their ground teams was impressive, but the sight of actual alien technology was something else entirely.

Magno shook her head, in all of her long life, the idea that she was looking at actual alien technology was something she was still trying hard to grasp. Buzam was in the same boat as she looked over the information and the images before her.

"To think we're actually looking at an alien ship…"

Magno shook her head and spoke.

"Master Chief…any sign of life onboard?"

"Negative so far Ma'am, standby, we're going to use more light in here."

In a moment, the Vanguard escorting the group activated it's headlights and the rest of the group did the same and there they saw the carnage. There were bodies everywhere, some of them were like that of the humanoid forms before them while others appeared to have been totally transformed into something terrifying, the other Combat skins were torn apart and ripped yet salvageable while the others were very much intact and worth taking.

The Master Chief lifted the Combat Skin they had found and found it to be very light by his standards and the interior was a bit messy due to the remains of it's deceased owner and the Spartan was quick to see the other weapons in the area, all of them easily passing up for the weapons the Covenant were keen on using in battle before, but these were different in the sense that they were more powerful looking, all over the area were remains of the battle between the now destroyed Flood and the crew of Forerunners who fought to the death with the parasitic Flood itself.

In that moment, the elderly woman spoke to the Master Chief.

"How's it looking in there Chief?"

"No sign of the Flood, if this ship crashed here and if any Flood were still alive, then this entire planet would have been overrun by now and converted, this might be our only chance Captain, send down the salvage teams ASAP as well as the rest of the Megele and Tarak contingent, two of the ground teams here on site will act as security detail for the salvage teams as well as setting up the NOVA Bombs once we give the all clear. The rest of us will head off to the ship's power station and see if we can get enough power to access any terminal and start gathering any and all information that we can take with us. "

Magno nodded at that and gave the order for the Salvage teams to saddle up and head out for the mission, they had already set up several sections of the Nirvana to gather and stockpile all the salvaged technology and equipment that they could find on that ship, the salvage teams were going to be first with their escorts and then the Megele and Tarak contingents, after they got what they could afford to take, the next team were the ones who were going to bring in the NOVA Bombs.

"Cortana, get Horseman-071 ready for rapid insertion into the atmosphere once we get the all go from the Master Chief, we need to hurry up before the Harvesters get to the site."

"Understood Captain."

********

In a few minutes, the Nirvana deployed a wave of Pelican Drop-ships and two pairs of Albatross Heavy Drop-ships with Longsword escort to the ground of the planet; they were soon followed by a number of Megele Transport ships and Tarak transport ships from both the Titan's Wrath and the Ruby Rapier. The Nirvana was quickly deploying it's Dread squadrons along with a number of Longswords that were soon deployed along with them. These were soon joined by the Talvernians who were going to be piloting the Vanguards and those of the Titan's Wrath and the Dreads of the Ruby Rapier.

Both ships were now able to move and fight despite their damage and they would soon reveal their own weapons fire. However, a smaller wing of Longswords were deployed with nuclear FENRIS and SHIVA nuclear weapons were now moving along with a certain Vanguard and a trio of Dreads. They were going to inflict as much damage as they could manage to slow down the advance of the Harvesters so the rest of the forces could set up a better defense grid.

********

Out in deep space...

The Harvesters were now getting ready to move, however the forces that it had with them were moving ahead, a massive wave of Seed Ships were moving through as well as the Cube Fighters and Urchin Ships to strike hard and fast to make sure that when their main Battle ships arrived on the scene, they would be intact and ready for a serious battle with the Nirvana, Next to the fleet was a much larger vessel not as large as the battle-ships themselves, but about the same size as that of a ground troop transport and seemingly better armored. The ship had the usual complement of Harvester Troopers and some of their Shock Troopers, but in a large number of storage pods were much larger, as if containing something much larger and more dangerous in itself.

These were the Harvesters answer to the Spartans, the Spartan Slayers, and they were eager to finally face the Spartans in battle, they had been in a large number to finally slay and bring back the Master Chief for he might well be the key to the survival of the Harvesters, an irony not lost to the Council, but now, there were more of them, and if they had the same traits as the Master Chief, then these new Spartans could well be the key to the survival of true humanity, there were some of the Council that worried that the forces that they had deployed might not be enough to defeat the Spartans and bring their corpses back for study and possible cloning, but the others thought otherwise and went ahead with the plan to attack the Nirvana, destroy it, salvage any organs they could find, defeat the Spartans and take their bodies.

The Spartan Slayers were meant for that mission, and they would succeed this time.

********

To be continued…

********

Author's Notes:

Man…it's been a while since I cooked up and new chapter for this story of mine!

Anyway, here it is for this story.

Well, that wraps up this chapter, as you can see; we are seeing the characters that are recognizable from the Halo Universe as well as some OCs that I have recently created for the continuing storyline of VanDread Halo The Second Stage. As you have read, Edward Buck and his ODST forces are in the story as well as them getting promoted for their efforts in the war, along with Spartan Red Team, as well as several well recognized faces from the UNSC Marine Corps.

These happen to be Sergeant Major Pete Stacker, Former Private now Lance Corporal Chips Dubbo, Former Gunnery Sergeant now Lieutenant 1st Class Reynolds, Former Staff Sergeant now Master Sergeant Marcus Banks, and Former Corporal now Sergeant Benjamin M Nunez. They form the core of the elite veterans who had taken part of the final engagement on the Ark that ended the UNSC-Covenant War for good, and since they have worked well with the Master Chief in those battles, they are very respectful of the memory of the Master Chief and take some offense to those who try to downplay the efforts of not just the Master Chief but the Spartans in general. They are not alone in that regard as the ODSTs in the Spirit of Fire are different from the other ODSTs, due to the fact that they have worked with the Spartans for a lot longer and thus, while the bad blood between the ODSTs and the Spartans is not completely gone, they are more than willing and ready to work side by side with one another, and of course we also have Cortez and O'Brian from the short anime film Babysitter to join the gang.

Of course we have now been introduced to none other than Jessica al-Cygni Johnson herself, and she is as strict as her father though she somewhat lacks a portion of her father's eccentric personality, but makes up for it for being a dedicated Marine and officer in battle. She idolizes her father as well as the Master Chief and respects the friendship between the two men.

And, since her father is a Spartan I, then yes, she does have inborn genetic enhancements that her father had so she is the first Spartan 1.1 to be introduced in the story and now is joined by the other Spartan 1.1s, so you can expect things to get very interesting from here on out. And we have another pair of OCs, Michelle Keyes and Robert Whitcomb so they will play a key role in the coming battles

The story will soon be ended with the next chapter as we are about to meet the Spartan Slayers, how will the Spartans fare with the Spartan Slayers on the field?

And as to how the ships mentioned in Battle Group Washington will arrive in the VanDread Universe? That is still going to be a secret that will soon be revealed to all of you who will be reading this.

See you soon and thank you for your continued readings!


	9. Chapter 10

VanDread Halo The Second Stage

Disclaimer: I don't own Halo or VanDread so let's leave it at that.

Chapter 5

Part 4

Blast from the Past

( ): Thoughts

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On the surface of the planet…

John-117 and Fred-104's teams were currently moving out through the remains of the Forerunner vessel while Kelly-087 and Linda-058's teams were now outside to secure the area for the salvage teams to reach the site below them, along with the salvage teams was Parfait and a handpicked team of engineers to oversee the recovery of technology and information from the ship.

As soon as the ships touched down, the rest of the ground team were quick to set up a defensive perimeter while Linda sent a COM signal to John and Fred, she normally operated well on her own and was a lone wolf by nature, but she knew the importance of this mission so now was not the right time to go solo.

"Squad Leader, the ground teams are on site."

"Good, get ready for an escort mission, Cortana just called in before you did, the fleet's got their defense grid ready up top, so let's get to work."

"Roger."

As the shuttles landed, Parfait and her crew were on the site and taking several of the anti gravity platforms to gather what they could from the wreckage, once the teams were well spaced out and formed, both Kelly and Linda went back to doing their duties and were now escorting the Engineering teams, the very second Parfait saw the interior of the ship, she was in awe, she had NEVER seen such designs before and despite the place looking like a wreck, she was still amazed at the sheer size of the ship. The Megele Navy made large ships, but this one dwarfed them all and made look like the toys that young women back home used to entertain themselves when in the bath-tub.

"Wow….this ship is huge…there's nothing back in Megele like this!"

Parfait then managed to look at the Combat Skin that was recovered and she quickly began to analysis it as best she could with the circumstances she was in at the moment, as far as she could figure, the suit was indeed designed for heavy operations though it seemed to have no shielding systems, but as she looked at it, she couldn't help but be awed by it's design as it was still something as a work of art. However, for now she had to focus on gathering all that she could to study as she and the engineers, under heavy escort began to gather what they could. They knew however that unless the Spartan teams who were still exploring the ship's internal design found the ship's power block, they were not going to get far.

Despite that, Parfait and her crew ere finding a number of amazing artifacts in the ship itself, some were similar to the weapons that the Spartans and the Fire Teams would use in battle, but they were certainly different in both form and function, making Parfait suspect that the weapons on this ship were far different than the ones they had on the Nirvana, though she knew that they operated on the same functions and rules. The weapons were gathered as best they could and it was then that she and the others spotted strange robotic like constructs that apparently were no longer operational for a possible number of reasons. One of the engineers looked at the thing and spoke out as she tried to study the machine with the time permitted.

"What is this thing?"

Kelly walked over and spoke as she looked at the machine.

"Looks like a Forerunner Sentinel, judging by the damage it must have been fighting the Flood before they were all destroyed; they served as support weapons for the Forerunners and were sometimes used to contain Flood outbreaks that were not of a serious grand scale to limit Forerunner losses from what we learned in the records of the Shield World, and from the records John had with him. They may be small and not very powerful, but if in good numbers and well coordinated, they can be deadly."

Parfait looked and was interested in their construction and asked the engineers to take the wreckage as well as anything else of value. The groups carried on piling up as much of the Forerunner technology that they could find on this level and while this was going on, the two Spartan IIs and their respective teams were moving out to find anything else that were of value and they were able to find more than enough as well.

In one section of the ship, there appeared to be the ruins of a number of turrets that were used to secure sections of the ship from borders, though these were now nothing more than wrecks, their construction was more than enough to interest the engineers as they gathered what they could. They also found other things of considerable interest despite the damage of the ship, some were the shreds of construction materials that the ship itself was made of and Parfait took those for study to understand what was the exact composition of the alloys used by the Forerunners on their ships, the next were an apparently intact number of pyramid like devices that still released light. Once the head engineer scanned it, she was awed.

"This…this thing is releasing enough energy to out match even the best portable fusion power cells on Megele!!!! This is amazing!!!"

Parfait has the devices brought along to study as well, though she extended advice for extreme caution as such pure energy could be highly destructive if handled in the wrong fashion. They carried on to see what else they could find on the ship that was worth studying. They then spotted other items, mostly energy weapons that were remarkably well preserved and still able to function, Combat Skins of various types that were still intact and other bits that were worth taking. All the while, they hoped that the others would find the ship's main power block.

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In another part of the ship…

One of the Fire Team members in her Power Armor spoke as she gazed at the ship's interior.

"By Grand Ma….this place is HUGE! We could actually fit an entire housing unit's worth of occupants in here and still have room for more!"

The others nodded but were quick to remain silent when the Spartans looked at them, that was more than enough to cut their conversations short and it was then that both teams arrived in front of a massive set of doors and seeing that they would have to open it the old fashioned way, the Spartans and the Vanguards got to work with the Vanguards using their Plasma Saws to cut the door and the Spartans tore it open. As soon as they entered the room in the ship, they were able to see the massive banks of Energy Cores that powered the ship itself, they seemed to be barely active and it was when they hoped that they could find a way to reactivate them.

It was then that voice came out.

"Oh….Reclaimers! It has been so long since I have seen your kind."

The entire force turned around and were greeted by a floating machine that resembled an eye and John reflexively tightened his grip on his weapon as the sight of it brought back memories of 343 Guilty Spark, that mad A.I was the killer of his friend Avery Johnson and that thing had tried to kill him and Cortana more than once when they were on the first Halo Ring. The unit then floated over to them and spoke in a very formal and respectful tone.

"Greetings Reclaimers, I am Naval Unit 503 Flowing Chapter, I am the current A.I unit in this Forerunner ship, it is good to see you here to finally reclaim this ship and take over the legacy left over by my makers."

"Makers?"

John spoke.

"You mean the Forerunners?"

"Precisely, I have been trying my best to keep this ship repaired and operational but sadly the ship is no longer operational and is not much use….many of the Huragok onboard were slain by the Flood and many died after the firing of the Halo Rings during the Battle with the rogue A.I Mendicant Bias….excuse me for saying this, but have I done something to offend you Reclaimer?"

John realized that he was still aiming his weapon at the A.I unit and decided to speak the truth.

"One of your kind murdered a good friend of mine, it was 343 Guilty Spark, you know him?"

The A.I moved itself in what John could tell was it's version of a nod.

"Yes, he was in charge of Installation 04 according to my last inventory of the data my creators left behind….he went Rampant didn't he?"

"Yes he did."

The A.I then replied in a sad tone.

"I see….he had always had a tendency to focus too heavily on protocol…what happened to him?"

John was very wary but took a risk and told Flowing Chapter everything, while watching the A.I to use it's weapon like Spark did, but afterwards, the A.I spoke.

"I see….Guilty Spark was indeed following protocol, but his programming became obsessive, it is a sad thing for one of my kind to turn on the ones chosen by my creators to inherit the legacy left behind for them, as for me, I do not blame you for your anger towards me Reclaimer, however I assure you that my programming has been and always will be to the protection of those chosen by my creators, and your arrival has been a boon to me."

"How so?"

"You are the child of my makers, and as such, you are by right Forerunner, therefore as a creation of the Forerunner, I pledge my service to you and will fight for your cause."

"How do I know you're not going to become Rampant?"

"I will give you this."

The A.I revealed a device that resembled the same Index key that Cortana had with her, though in this case, it was gold and blue in color.

"This device serves as a power up sequence system for the ship, while the ship is too heavily damaged to worthy of space flight, it is capable of activating it's power system, though only a Forerunner can do so, my Captain was killed after Halo was fired but not before he gave it to me for safe keeping, he was not taken by the Flood at the time and charged me to keep this ship safe. I am giving this to you as a gesture of my intent to aid and not harm."

John looked at it and then took it, warily examining the device while Fred and the others were ready for anything, the Master Chief then spoke to the floating Forerunner A.I, wanting to throw the final curveball on this unit and hope for the best, he looked at Fred and gave a slight nod, the Spartan nodded and got ready and so did the others as John spoke.

"I need to know something from you."

"What is it you require of me?"

The Spartan told the Forerunner A.I what he knew of this world and the A.I was shocked to learn that it had landed not only on a desolate planet that was uninhabited, but also in a completely different dimension, and that here, the Forerunners did not exist at all. He told Flowing Chapter everything of this dimension's history and also the most critical, the ongoing war with the Harvesters and how they needed to destroy the Key ship to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Harvesters. As soon as that was over, the Master Chief spoke then to the Forerunner A.I to see just how it would react to the news that they intended to destroy the ship once it was picked clean of any and all viable materials, data, and salvage.

This was not going to be easy and John was not in the mood to have a repeat of what happened the last time when the Forerunner A.I Guilty Spark found out the plan to fire the new Halo Ring to kill the Gravemind and the Flood once and for all. The Spartan knew full well how that event turned out and that was the one thing they needed to avoid at all costs.

"I see…you wished to know if I would retaliate and stop you from destroying this ship, which has been my responsibility for the past one hundred thousand years ever since the end of the war that claimed my makers….your protectors, to prevent others from using the technology still here for their own uses?"

"More or less, yes."

The A.I remained silent for a bit more and replied.

"I do not plan to stop you, this ship has indeed been in my charge for that period of time, but it is no longer the grand ship that it was before. And most of all, you are the child of my creators, inheritors of all their legacy and power, you ARE Forerunner, and as such, I will follow your orders and wishes, serve you and your fellow Reclaimers to the best of my ability and programming, and if so needed, I will gladly sacrifice myself to protect you. Also, I do not wish this ship to become a source of power to such deranged beings, though they themselves are human, they can no longer be classified as human and as such are not under the protection of the Mantle. This ship, ever since you stepped into it, is yours to do with as you please Reclaimer, if destroying it is the best option to prevent the technological legacy of my makers and your protectors, then so be it. I will guide you on how it can be done."

That was unexpected in John's mind but he knew that time was against them so he had no choice but to agree, he motioned for the others to follow the A.I and they made it through the place, along the way, they saw the destruction of the ship, though as they moved deeper into the vessel, they saw that some sections of the ship were somewhat still intact and they finally arrived in a massive computer center, the floating Forerunner robot then activated the control surface and the same holographic display appeared before John.

He didn't need to guess what he was being asked to do as he placed in the device. As soon as the device had been taken into the panel, the ship began to go back to life, some sections of the ship began to have power and light coursed through it, reenergizing the systems of the ship once more, some naturally didn't work up to the standard, but it didn't prevent some of the ship to be fully reactivated. The panel flashed somewhat due to the damage to the core systems, but it was not long before an image of the key ship appeared.

It was then that Flowing Chapter spoke to the gathered groups as seven dots appeared in key areas of the Key ship.

"These dots signify the key areas where you must place your charges to finally destroy any trace of the ship itself, I can only hope that the weapons you have brought for this will be adequate for although the Key ship is severely damaged and it's structural integrity is compromised severely, it is still very much an active ship."

"Don't worry, the NOVAs should do the job."

That was enough for John to finally contact the others, namely Kelly and Linda.

"Linda, Kelly, how goes the salvage operations?"

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Linda was the first to speak.

"It seems to be going smoothly at the moment, though we have to clean up the internals of some of the Combat Skins since there are remains of the Forerunners in them, not a good sight, but Parfait and her crew are doing their best, we might get enough on the transport ships, but not everything here will be worth taking."

Kelly was currently overseeing the operation and as soon as the ships were halfway full, she signaled to Linda to let her speak to John, Linda sent her agreement and she spoke next to John. She knew that they had time, but how much was still uncertain.

"We might need to wrap it up….I get the feeling that as soon as the Nirvana and those two ships engage the Harvesters, we're going to have a lot of company soon enough."

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John replied to Kelly's worries.

"Got it, I'll try and contact the Nirvana right now."

He then did just that as he spoke to his COM connection to Cortana on the Nirvana.

"Master Chief to the Nirvana, can you read me?"

"Loud and clear Chief, we saw the whole exchange….can we really trust him?"

John knew just what Cortana meant by that and replied.

"He's given us what we need to reactivate this ship, so I don't think that we will have anything to risk at this time Cortana. How soon can we get the supplies up thereon the Nirvana?"

"Soon enough, we've gotten all that we need at the moment, and we've just gotten word from Meia, they have managed to engage the Harvester Fleet and cause enough damage to slow them down with my Longswords providing long range support, but they are going to have to pull back soon, they know that we can't afford to lose them in this very critical juncture of the whole mission. Once they do enough damage, they will move back and reinforce the Nirvana as well as the Ruby Rapier and Titan's Wrath."

"What about the other ships?"

"They are operational at the moment and are now ready to fight, but we've got to get out of here as soon as those NOVA weapons finally explode, seven NOVA Bombs going off at once is one fireworks display I can say I don't want to look at."

John agreed with that and as soon as the ship was online, he asked Flowing Chapter the location of the central archive on the ship, once that was online, the Spartan guided the other teams to secure it, the barely functional ship was still impressive despite the damage and the others who were there were naturally impressed by the sheer scale of the ship itself as it began to come to life, though barely. As soon as John and Fred as well as their teams arrived on site with Flowing Chapter joining them and guiding the engineering team to the archives. Once they arrived in the room that served as the main data hub of the Forerunner Dreadnought, Parfait then tried to find an access port to place in her data collector and Flowing Chapter scanned it and replied.

"Odd….this device is quite archaic and flawed, are you sure that it can handle the data from this terminal?"

Parfait was naturally somewhat offended by that remark and spoke out her offense.

"Excuse me?! I'll have you know that this is my best work yet!"

"I mean no offense, but my scans show that it's not powerful enough to handle the data stream that will come from the data core archives, might I suggest that you upgrade to a Class Twelve data storage unit? It would be far more capable and limit the risk of being overwhelmed by the information stored here."

John however replied.

"We don't have the time Flowing Chapter, can you compress the information?"

The Forerunner A.I nodded at that and decided to get to work on the matter and began to access the data, the screen came to life and Parfait was shocked by what she was seeing as literally rivers of code and information appeared before her, it made anything she had seen back on Megele look primitive in comparison, she couldn't help but be impressed though she couldn't read the symbols used by the Forerunners in their language.

As the data was being compressed, the ships that were going to take all the salvaged technology was given the clear go ahead signal to get out of the area, while the Spartans were still busy securing the area as well as protecting Parfait as she and her crew waited for the data. Flowing Chapter finally replied that it had done it's very best to shrink all the data and allow Parfait and her crew to gather what they could. The plucky head engineer went to work on gathering the information, marveling at the fact that she and her team had so much to work with, it took at least three sets of data core storage chips for them to get even halfway to storing the information and in this moment, she was happy that the Forerunner A.I had agreed to shrink the information for them to collect, along with the fact that she had been able to bring this many chips with her to store the data. The Megele device could store at least a full digital library back home and was used as a simple and efficient way to transport data though the more expensive ones had elaborate security programs, but the data stored here was remarkable.

The head engineer felt like she was in technology heaven as she saw schematics, data records, files, formulae, and more and it was only the words of the Master Chief for her as well as her team to pack it up and to get ready to leave the ship as they were soon going to set up the seven NOVA Bombs and destroy the ship, however, they knew that while this was going on, the Spartans and those who were with them needed to remain on site and get the bombs in place as they now had key areas to set the bombs into.

As she and her group packed it up, Parfait quickly contacted the Nirvana to report their success in the mission of gathering all the data from the ship itself though she had to admit that she was going to be very restless from here on out once she got back to the Nirvana and had the time needed work on all the information that they got from the ship's data core archive.

"This is Parfet, we've managed to get all the needed information from the ship and we're going back to the ship to begin the storage of the materials and information."

"Got it Parfet, you'd better hurry up, scanners show that the Harvesters are really coming at full force, Dita, Meia, Hibiki, and Jura are engaging them right now with a wing of Cortana's Longsword forces but they are going to have to pull out soon, the Harvesters are just too many."

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Earlier…

The Harvester Fleet moved at full speed towards their objectives and soon the Cube Fighters were getting ready to attack, however, they were going to be in for a surprise when two massive arcing blasts of energy suddenly came right at them, some of the Cube Fighters got away but the ones that were caught in the arcing attacks were easily reduced into nothing but scrap and debris. That was more than enough to force the Harvesters to break ranks and find out who was attacking them, though they already had an idea on who it was attacking them at this time. Several squadrons of Cube Fighters along with supporting Seed Ships were already making their way to the area where the attacks came from.

Several more blasts were released by the attackers and more Cube Fighters were destroyed by the blasts of energy and they were firing their weapons at that direction, it was then that the VanDread appeared and this one was the one piloted by Dita and Hibiki, inside the cockpit, Dita was in a very good mood.

"Yay! Take that you bad aliens!"

Hibiki ignored that as his game face was on as he watched the monitor and began to mentally calculate the numbers and distance of the attacking forces and unleashed the full might of his and Dita's VanDread, the sheer amount of firepower unleashed by the VanDread's cannons were more than enough to sent many of the Cube Fighters to the scrap yard beyond as they were destroyed, however, Hibiki was quick to spot several Urchin ships and he quickly fired several beam shots, the Urchin Ships were able to avoid those, showing their speed and agility once more though one had been a bit too slow and was destroyed by the attack.

Hibiki however was quick to move the VanDread out of the way as several barrages of spines came right at them, he blocked using the forearm blades on the VanDread but he also knew that while this VanDread was well armored, it was not agile and fast enough to chase these threats as he quickly spoke to Dita.

"We need to break off now!"

Dita pouted but she agreed as they moved their VanDread back, and as the Urchin vessels came at them at full force, several missiles were fired right at them by the Longswords, forcing the Urchin vessels to break formation and move to the defensive, however the missiles suddenly detonated just before they hit the ships, the explosions blinded the sensors of the Urchin Ships and that gave Hibiki and Dita the opening to break away and return their machines to normal….just as Meia came rocketing right in with her own Dread. In that exact moment, both Hibiki and Meia's machines merged just as Dita flew back to be joined by Jura and the Longswords.

The Urchin Ships were suddenly greeted by VanDread Meia as the agile eagle formed VanDread smashed through their ranks.

BOOM!!!!!

The Harvester ships were sent out of the ball park as they were unable to keep up with the VanDread as both Meia and Hibiki took advantage of the confusion and attacked as many of the Cube Fighters, Urchin Ships and Seed Ships that they could reach though they made sure not to go too far and attract the attention of the Harvester Battle Ships as they knew that they didn't have the kind of firepower needed to attack ships that were that size. Dita and Jura on the other hand were escorting a number of the Longswords that were getting into position and as soon as they were there, the two retreated and Jura contacted the two.

"The Longswords are ready! It's time for us to get the heck out of here!"

"Right! Let's go quickly!"

The VanDread quickly high tailed it out of the area and was soon joined by the other Dreads just as the Longswords were able to move in ahead. Jura and Dita had managed to defend the Longswords long enough for them to get into strike position and as soon as they were, the Tarak youth quickly radioed Cortana and the former AI told them to move as she was going to give the Harvesters her patented greeting card with an extra bang.

The four knew that meant and moved out of the way as three super hot glowing streaks of energy came out, these were not energy bolts but were MAC rounds, the three rounds smashed through the Harvesters that were trying to purse them, Cube Fighters were reduced to slag while Seed Ships were torn apart by the three weapons, such was the densely packed forces pursuing them. The four had planned this out well enough though Dita mostly followed through while giving some suggestions, and this was one of them, they knew that the Harvesters saw VanDread units they commanded were vital targets and would do anything to catch them and take them out, which was why the Harvesters were so focused in destroying them that they were unmindful of spacing and as such were easy prey to the massive MAC Rounds, which were then followed a swarm of Archer Missiles..

These weapons smashed through the Harvesters hard and fast and right into the battle group, even if the harvester battle ships had far better armor than any Harvester Ship, they were still hit hard and suffered damage. However, it was not enough to warrant them to stop their every encroaching approach to the Nirvana's current location, The Harvesters were far from done as several of their core assault group continued ahead of the fleet, escorted by new forces, these units were going to be key, but this time they were not going to relent.

However, that was when the Nirvana or more specifically Cortana unleashed her second surprise of the day as the Longswords attacked, they had been able to rely on the VanDreads to cover for them long enough and unleashed their missiles and special; weapons right into the Harvesters, this was enough to force the harvesters to divert their forces to deal with the Longswords, but that didn't mean that they were going to give up as they deployed all of their forces in the direction of the Nirvana, the Titan's Wrath, and the Ruby Rapier.

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In one of the Dread fighters of the Ruby Rapier…

"This is so darn boring…."

"Can the chatter, we're getting ready for the soon to come battle."

"Yes ma'am."

The leader Dread squadron leader was not in the best of moods at the moment as she looked at the scanners to find out what else was going to happen, she was not happy that they were in this kind of situation since she was more interested in doing what she could to end this battle between her squadrons and the men. That had changed big time and now here she and her pilots were, figihting alongside some unknown menace with the men.

(By Grand Ma! Fighting alongside these men….I must be out of my mind.)

It was then that one of her squadron spoke.

"Still can't believe we're working with these darn savages….what's the universe coming to?"

The Dread pilots of the Ruby Rapier were among the best in the Megele Navy meeting their match only with the Vanguard pilots of the Titan's Wrath, when they had attacked the Titan's Wrath, they had thought that it was just a massive ship that was slow and easy to hunt down but the Titan was quick to prove them wrong as it was able to outflank them and unleash a wave of torpedoes that smashed hard into their shields and then their Vanguards moved out with deadly precision and power while being given heavy support by their main ship as their weapons, moving faster than before caught them off guard..

They had thought that the advantage was theirs, but the men had proven to be more than able to match them blow for blow, and give back just as much pain on them, their Banshees had tried to board the ship to strike fast and hard to kill the Titan, but their Banshees were repulsed with heavy losses by the Sand Panthers in battle while they made sure to give as much pain as possible, they had been humiliated by that ship and it's crew so it was annoying to find themselves being forced to work with them.

However it was then that they spotted the forces of the Nirvana getting ready and that was when the Nirvana unleashed it's weapons out in one direction, they were curious indeed as to why and it seemed so were the mean, they then spotted the arrival of a massive eagle like machine flanked by two Dreads that were from the pirates, the squadron leader and the rest of the crew of the Dread Squadrons and the Ruby Rapier were stunned by the sight of the VanDread as the mecha flew to join the others.

They were not the only ones as well as the men were surprised to see this before them, they had no idea what that machine was and they were eager to get their hands on it and see just what was it that made it tick, but then both sides were stunned when the thing was covered in glowing energy and broke into two machines.

Both sides zoomed in to see Meia' Dread and Hibiki's Vanguard move apart and then the blue Dread came closer to the Vanguard and in a moment, to the surprise of the two sides, the machines glowed and merged in a flash of light and became VanDread Dita. They were naturally surprised by all this and it was then that they were wondering just how could two machines that belonged to two different cultures and civilizations located inside of their home system was able to merge into one another. However that was taken out of their hands as the Harvesters came en masse, the women and men of both capital ships were now able to see the Harvesters for the very first time and it was not long before the Harvesters engaged them.

The Dread squadron leader quickly gave orders to her fellow pilots and on the other side of the line, her counterpart was soon to make his move as the battle was drawn.

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On the ground the Spartans were doing all that they could to get the NOVA Bombs into position and set them on a combined detonation system that would respond to Cortana when she gave the order for the whole system to detonate, Flowing Chapter was doing it's best to guide them to the exact locations that would be able to ensure that the detonation of all seven weapons would completely destroy the ship and leave nothing behind. The Spartan knew that this was going to be a long situation and he had just gotten word from Cortana that the Harvesters had finally arrived and were now attacking them in full force.

Half the Nirvana Fire Teams were engaged while they were supported by both the Security teams with their new weapons and training as well as the Talvernians who were on the Nirvana and soon enough the fighting was really getting to the point that the Harvesters were doing all they could to wipe out the Nirvana, they saw the Nirvana as the key threat and ignored the other ships, thinking that with the Nirvana destroyed, they would fall into place and be easier to destroy, Cortana and Magno counted on that as the elderly Captain ordered Bart and Cortana to make sure that they were able to draw out much of the strength of the Harvesters to allow the Titan's Wrath and the Ruby Rapier to do as much damage as possible. It was very risky and quite dangerous to say the very least as this would expose the Nirvana to severe damage, but thankfully Cortana's support and use of the Nirvana's weapon systems worked well with Bart's increased skills in piloting the Nirvana and the plasma cannon banks kept the Nirvana from taking the worst of the hits, though they were still going o be seriously outgunned if they were suddenly set upon by the Harvester battle ships as well.

The Titan's Wrath and the Ruby Rapier were quick to seize the chance offered to them by the Nirvana and inflicted as much damage as possible while defending themselves though Cortana told the Master Chief that the pilots on either side seem to be trying to outdo the other, something that was not needed in battle, having competitions in the battle zone might sound entertaining to some, but to the Spartan, it was a death wish waiting to be fulfilled as it distracted the ones doing it from the mission and could very well get them as well as others killed.

He placed that aside as he focused on getting the bombs in place and getting ready for any possible attacks on the surface by the Harvesters.

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Back out in deep space…

The Harvesters were locked in mortal combat with the Nirvana as well as the two ships from both Tarak and Megele and their respective squadrons, though in this case, the Dreads of the Nirvana were not without Longsword support and they were raking in the kills, though they were quick to retreat to Gascogne to reload, repair, and refuel once they were no longer able to maintain the attack, which left the Longswords to hold the front line which they did well under the support of the Nirvana with both Cortana and Bart unleashing all of their firepower into the fight. Once they were loaded, the Longswords would hold the fort still and they would come in and fight.

They were not alone as the three Dreads that have been transformed along with Hibiki's Vanguard were providing all the support that they were able to give their comrades and with good results, Dita and Hibiki provided the firepower needed to damage heavy formations of Cube Fighters as well as Seed Ships, as well as closing the gap and attacking Urchin Ships that made the mistake of getting into range with their forearm blades, then when they separated, VanDread Jura would step up to the plate and use it's energy emitters to act as whip like cutters to slice apart enemy forces as well as lend protection to refueling and rearming Dreads to minimize the damage they would be able to take, as well as increasing the defensive abilities of the Nirvana as well, allowing Cortana and Bart the time needed to reload and re arm the ship's weapon systems.

As soon as that was done, they would split apart and then Meia and Hibiki would go to work and fight alongside one another in their own VanDread, dodging and weaving while causing as much damage as they could while making the enemy fire into their own ranks using the VanDread's speed and agility as well as it's ramming powers to cause as much destruction as possible. Once they were in the clear, they would dive back in like an eagle tracking it's favored quarry and dive in, causing even more damage to the Harvesters while evading their counter attacks and using the confusion to their advantage.

Cortana and Bart were also raking in the destruction as they were quick to aim for key targets and hit the Harvesters hard while the Fire Teams onboard the pirate ship as well as the Security Teams and the Talvernians were also hitting back as some of the Boarding Craft were able to deploy their forces to hit the Nirvana, their increased training, weapon skills, and experience proved to be invaluable in blunting the attacks of the Harvesters.

However, that hardly meant that the pirates were winning hands down with their allies. The Harvesters had also adapted their own strategy and tactics to fight the Nirvana as well as their allies, the Cube Fighters were soon fighting in wolf pack formations, moving in well spaced units that would minimize the chances of them being destroyed en masse this time around, they would also rely on their larger size and increased speed to outpace some of the pilots and they also relied on numbers as well, though in a more tactical sense, they would focus on keeping their distance and fire while on the move in a more controlled fashion, they would strafe and also lead shoot the Dreads and Vanguards and even the Longswords and then their allies would pounce quickly into the path of their foes causing disarray and surprise in the ranks of the pirates, the men of Tarak and the women of Megele.

They were also able to work with the Urchin Ships with surprising efficiency, when the Urchin Ships were moving the Cube Fighters would then moved behind them, protected from missile fire from the Vanguards and the Dreads, once the Urchin Ships broke through the ranks of the pirates and the men and women of both worlds, the Cube Fighters would leap out from behind and blind side their victims and cause severe damage, They would also shield the Urchin Ships with their own bodies when the Urchin Ships were shot at by beam weapons as well as solid rounds, once they were out, the Urchin ship would suddenly unleash it's spines at the attackers and before the y were attacked another squadron of Cube Fighters would go in and break up the attack allowing the Urchin Ships to recover their spines with new ones and then they would quickly go on the offensive.

There was also a new force of fighters in the Harvesters' ranks, these were ships that were shaped like crystal shards and seemed to be armed with some sort of beam refracting qualities similar to the blobs that the Harvesters had used back in the Mission where Liz and Patch lived, though in this case, the energy came from inside the fighters themselves. Once they unleashed the beams, the beam blasts would scatter all over the place, along these fighters were difficult to engage due to their weapons, but when together, they were twice as deadly as somehow, their prism like plates were able to refract the beams of their sister ships, mimicking the very same move that Hibiki had used back in the asteroid field.

These changes in the Harvester Forces' battle tactics were not lost to the pirates and Magno spoke.

"They have really been working out."

Buzam nodded at that and it was then that they spotted a massive number of Cube Fighters break away to escort what appeared to be transport ships, the crew had no doubt that those were going to be used to deploy the assault teams to attack the Fire teams below as well as the Talvernians, the Megele and Tarak contingents, and the Spartans as well.

The elderly Captain quickly contacted the pilots who were able to fight to intercept them quickly to help keep them from attacking their comrades down on the planet's surface.

However, the Harvesters were quick to heavily defend the ships, and while it was costing them precious units, they were more than willing to gamble away those units for what they hoped would be the chance to kill or capture the Spartans along with anyone else there on the surface. The battle to prevent the harvesters from deploying their forces proved to be highly destructive as the Cube Fighters fought fiercely to defend the vessels no matter what would happen to them and it was becoming very risky to say the very least.

Meia was not the least bit pleased by what she had witnessed as the ships had managed to get past her Dread Squadrons. No matter how many times they had tried to take out the ships, the Cube Fighters were now screening them from attack, some of the Cube Fighters engaged her Dreads and the Longsword forces under Cortana's control. However the new Prism Gun Fighters were unleashing a barrage of beam weapons that kept her Dreads busy as well as the Dreads and Vanguards of the Ruby Rapier and the Titan's Wrath respectively.

She knew that those ships were going to be a real problem and if more were sent out, the advanced team was going to be in for a serious battle, and if the main capital ships decided to get involved, then things were going to get really nasty, but right now, they had to stop the Harvesters' ground assault forces from getting into the area and attacking the ground teams who were still in the process of setting up the NOVA Bombs.

However, the Harvesters main ground forces were being shielded by the Cube Fighters and Seed Ships and when they had taken out as many of the escorts that they were able to hit fast and hard with their weapons and support from the Longswords, the Harvesters would then deploy more fighter escorts to keep them away from the ships, almost as if they were doing all that they could in order to ensure that these ships were going to hit the surface.

That was more than enough to tell the Dread Squadron leader that whatever was being carried in those ships were extremely powerful units, and she was quick to wager a good guess on what was there….weapons meant to finally kill the Spartans and the Master Chief, with that in mind, she contacted the Nirvana to have Cortana warn the others on the ground of the soon to come danger while she and the others did what they possibly could manage in order to slow down and shatter the offensive of the Harvesters as best they could manage with the two front battle they were fighting.

They however got lucky then when Hibiki and Dita were able to break past the forces shielding the ships and they fired their cannons, the blast destroyed the rear of the ships, and that included their main engine banks, this caused the ships to be severely damaged and soon destroyed in their trip to the surface, however, before they exploded, they deployed their loads of pods, all aiming for the Forerunner Dreadnaught. Inside them were several platoons of Harvester Shock Troopers and an entire platoon of the Spartan Slayers, it would be their first taste of combat and if they won, good for them, if they failed, then the combat data was still useful either way for later analysis for the techs to study. If they were killed in action, they were designed to quickly relay all data to their masters so new models would be better prepared.

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On the ground…

"John! We've got a situation."

The Spartan has just set the timing mechanism on one of the NOVA Bombs and the last one that they were able to set up, he quickly spoke to Cortana.

"What is it?"

"Meia and the others have shot down the transport ships and they aren't going to be a threat, but they have deployed assault pods in the area, John, get out of there now!"

"Keep your cool Cortana, we'll be fine."

"I hope so, come back John…."

The Spartan had no idea what was going on here, Cortana was on the verge of panic and worry, something that he rarely if ever saw in her, whatever forces the Harvesters had deployed to this planet must be very dangerous for her to start acting this way. He felt something in him stir, something foreign yet familiar, the desire to get his team across this mess and get back alive….he had lost too many good friends and allies, Johnson, Keyes, Samuel, Arthur, Solomon, and many more, so many, he was not going to lose this time around, and he certainly was not going to die here.

He had fought amazing and terrifying odds ever since the wars and this was not going to change at all, he was not going to give up and die here and now. The bombs were in place and ready to go off as soon as they were in the clear, he was going to lead his team and his allies out of here, he was not going to lose anyone and he was certainly not going to leave Cortana alone. He did that once and she was nearly tortured to death by Gravemind.

He recalled when he had found her nearly spent and overwhelmed, reminders of the suffering she endured under the actions of Gravemind and when he saved her he managed to hide a small but strong amount of satisfaction in feeling her in his mind again. He would never abandon Cortana nor will he do something stupid and get himself killed.

Now is not the time for this!

That train of thought was more than enough to remind the Spartan officer that he had a job to do and now was time for him to get his focus on the right page as he quickly ordered the others to move out and get ready for battle as he ordered them to set up a kill zone quickly. It was then that they heard several large smashes on the ground before them and heard the tremors. The Master Chief knew that things were about to get dicey as Flowing Chapter spoke to him as it had flown out briefly ahead of them and came back just as quickly.

"Reclaimer, I am detecting several large forces approaching the ship….they do not appear to be of Flood origin or Reclaimer Origin, are these forces the Harvesters that you speak of?"

John nodded and quickly spoke to his team.

"Blue team! Hustle it up! We have company!"

Linda, Kelly, Fred, Tom, Lucy, Cade, Ash, Mark, Olivia and the other Spartan IIIs nodded and got ready, they had set the bombs in the key locations and were now going to have to get ready. The kill zone was set and soon enough, they were quickly attacked by the Harvesters, the forces turned out to be mostly comprised of Harvester Shock Troopers as well as several other units and as soon as they were in the kill zone, the Spartans unleashed hell on them as bullets and plasma rounds flew all over the place, as well as lasers and more.

The battle was chaotic as more and more of the Harvester Shock Troopers came in, only this time, they were followed by a new unit, this one was armed with the basic plasma cannon but was armed with a refracting shield that replaced the arm with the blade, this allowed the Harvester Shock Troopers to advance quickly under cover to the inside of the ship, and that was noted by the Spartans as Fred spoke.

"Those guys are fighting like the Jackals."

The others nodded, recalling the Kig-Yar who used Shields to cover other forces and allow them to hold the fort and pin down entire strike teams.

However this time around, there were some brand new arrivals on the ship and those were spotted by the Master Chief and the other Spartans. Before them were the Spartan Slayers, they were the same as the harvester Shock Troopers but were better armored and no doubt carrying heavy weapon systems designed for intense battles, the Spartans also noted that despite increased protection, the Spartan Slayers appeared to be able to move well, this told them that the armor plating must be light weight and flexible without giving up raw protection strength.

The Master Chief and his fellow Spartan IIs faced off with the Harvesters' newest toys as the groups faced one another in the ship as the others were busy fighting the incoming Harvester Shock Troopers on the other area of the massive hallway area of the ship, The four member of Blue Team faced off with the Spartan Slayers as they began to unleash their weapons as the Spartans quickly dove for cover as the battle field rained out with bullet shots, glowing balls of plasma, lasers, and more were all over the place as the main hold of the massive Key-ship turned into a hellish battle.

The Master Chief knew that unlike the previous forces, these much larger and fiercer units were made specifically to fight him and his fellow Spartans and were huge threats to the others, so they had to hurry. He then spoke to his fellow Spartans.

"Blue Team! We have little time so let's not waste time! Take them out fast and hard!"

"Roger!"

As soon as the Spartan Slayers began to cool down their Plasma weapons, the Spartans attacked, Linda quickly aimed at one of the units and fired, but the other quickly ducked, being hit hard on the shoulder, but not enough to be fatal, the Spartan however quickly fired another shot that hit it dead center in the chest, severely crippling it and she quickly placed aside her SRS99D-S2 AM Sniper Rifles, and took out her Energy Carbine, quickly firing three shots in rapid succession, hit the chest area and planting two shots in the face, She then grabbed the body of the slain Spartan Slayer and used the body to intercept the Close Combat Blade of another, trapping it with the body of it's comrade. The Spartan quickly smashed the back of her Energy Carbine into the face of her attacker and evaded another slash that nicked her MJOLNIR's energy shields as the golden light flared up at the hit it received.

Linda however quickly introduced the barrel of her Energy Carbine into the face of her attacker and blasted one clean shot right into the eye but the Spartan Killer was quick to recover despite being shot hard in the face as it somehow seemed to be still operational as it quickly fired a plasma blast at close range, causing Linda's MJOLNIR shield systems to flare up as the close range shot proved to be a considerable bit more powerful than a standard Harvester Shock Trooper shot as it seemed that the Spartan Killers had better weapons than the ones used by their more standard brethren. Linda quickly leaned away as she quickly slammed her shoulder hard to force her foe back as she aimed and fired another round that finally put an end to her foe, however she knew better than to relax and her wariness came to her aid once more as she quickly moved away from a smaller and more powerful bolt of plasma that managed to hit her shields as she quickly turned and spotted another Spartan Slayer, only this one appeared to be a Sniper variant as it's plasma weapon was longer and more sleek in design, resembling a more streamlined version of a Covenant Hunter's Fuel Rod Cannon.

Linda dodged the attack quickly and fired right back and managed to force her attacker to back away from the position that it had earlier. The Spartan II elite sniper was quick to fire her weapon and take out several more of them though this time she was quick to aim for the vital parts of their bodies, ignoring their weapons fire as she remained calm and took her shots and supported her comrades as best she could in the situation before her.

Fred rolled out of the way and fired his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle at full tilt as the Spartan Killer closed in on him, his shots were able to force the Harvester Unit to use it's shield and then allowed him to quickly place aside his Assault Rifle and took out one of the Plasma Rifles and one of his Combat Knives, The Spartan Slayer folded the collapsible shield and extended it's Close Combat Blade, but the Spartan quickly responded to that by swinging his Plasma Rifle hard on the left arm, moving it down and forcing the Close Combat Blade to be imbedded on the Floor of the Key-Ship and he followed through with a powerful Knife stab to the side of the neck. The Spartan Killer however was not out of the fight just yet and attacked once more with it's Plasma weapon, forcing Fred to move away while firing his own Plasma Rifle at the attacker, it freed it's blade and charged at the Spartan, Fred rolled out of the way and took out his other Combat Knife and quickly slammed the weapon right into the lower jaw of the attacker and killed it quickly.

The Spartan was soon greeted by another Spartan Slayer that extended it's Blade and slashed at him and he managed to lean back just as the weapon cut on his MJOLNIR's shield system, creating a glowing line of energy as the blade hit the shields and Fred quickly responded by deflecting the blade with his armored forearm as he heard the sparks from the blade and he managed to attack with a powerful fist on the chest of the Spartan Slayer, but this one seemed to be better armored as it took the Spartan II's attack and seemed to be still standing and slashed out with an attack. Fred quickly launched an attack to force his foe back and he then took out the Combat Knife that he had used earlier from the slain foe and quickly used the Plasma Rifle he had in hand and slammed it's underside in a side sweeping punch that sent the Spartan Slayer reeling from the blow as he quickly slashes the side of it's neck through the crack in the armor it had on. That action spilled out a good deal of blood from Fred's foe and sent it reeling back, but not enough for it to be out as it aimed it's Plasma weapon at the Spartan II's face.

However, Fred was quicker and moved in and quickly dropped to the ground and used the Plasma Rifle he had with him to fire several bolts that damaged the Spartan Slayer before him as he then followed with a powerful slash that took the creature's head off as it unleashed a geyser of it's magenta colored blood as Fred took out his Assault Rifle and took out another one of the Harvester Shock Troopers that came with the Spartan Slayers to aid them.

Kelly was quick to use her speed and unleashed several quick bursts of weapons fire on the pair that were fighting her, and to her surprise, they were able to keep up with her, though briefly as she was quick to fight back, using her weapons to deadly effect and killed two of them though she had expended all of the ammunition in her weapon at this point but she was quick to use her other weapons in conjunction with her speed, bypassing their attacks and she evaded a slash that would have taken her head off, she quickly ducked and grabbed the arm and pulled the enemy to the side and with a kick to the head, sent it flying away from her in that exact moment, she then smashed her fist hard into the face of another attack, spilling magenta colored blood, but the unit was not out as it slashed with the Close Combat Blade, scratching her shields and forcing her back as it then lunged at her at full force with the blade, she evaded that quickly and landed a deadly elbow, breaking the neck and killing her attacker, but she barely had time to relax as two more came at her, forcing her to use her MA5C to block their attacks, thankfully the weapon's outer shell held the blows and she quickly struck with hard strikes and quickly tore off the blade arm of one of the slain Spartan Slayers and used her own Knife training to even up the odds with her attackers.

They fought her well and it was only when she made a feint did she get an opening and smashed the blade she had taken into the face of her first foe and she grabbed the plasma cannon and aimed it while ripping the arm open and quickly pulling on a nerve connection, Kelly found the firing trigger and the second attacker got plasma right in the face as she then got her Assault Rifle and began to fire once more, showing that while her weapon was damaged, it was still in good working order and that mattered well to her.

John himself was quick to fight down several of the Harvester Shock Troopers and take them out quickly as he then blocked an incoming slash aimed for his head as the MJOLNIR mark VI's shields crackled as the blade scrapped on them with golden sparks, the Spartan then smashed the butt of his weapon in the face of his attacker and fired a burst of weapons fire into the face of his attacker, the Spartan Slayer was shredded in the face, but not before firing a plasma blast that hit the shields and that was enough for another pair to attack the Master Chief, one forced the Spartan to discard his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle and he was forced to use his hand to knock the next attack aside and he used his Plasma Rifle and blasted the enemy hard and fast, the Spartan Slayer took the blows and then lashed out with a kick that hit the Spartan, making John wince a bit at the blow but he forced that pain back and lashed out with a kick of his own that sent the attacker smashing into its ally and the Spartan quickly unleashed a hail of Plasma bolts with both Plasma Rifles in hand, the first two were destroyed by the Master Chief, and then another pair was quickly dispatched by the Spartan with blasts and combinations of melee attacks with both weapons.

As soon as he eliminated three more, the Spartan placed them aside and that was when one Slayer closed the gap and attacked, but the Spartan rolled backward and as soon as he was done moving back, he moved quickly to a crotch position and aimed with his still working MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle and then fired several blasts, the Slayer stopped and was hit though the armor it had on took the rounds and it tried to fire, only for the Master Chief to rush in and swat it's weapon aside with his recovered rifle and smashed a fist right into the neck and tore it's neck open with his bare hands as a spray of it's 'blood' splattered on the armor, the Spartan cared little for that and quickly engaged the enemy alongside his fellow Spartans.

The battle was fierce indeed and there was no doubt that the Spartans were going to have to go all out as more of the Harvester Shock Troopers fought with their Spartan Slayer brethren, and this was more than enough to tie down the teams while the other Spartan IIIs were doing their best alongside the Nirvana Fire Teams, their Talvernian allies, and the men of Tarak and the women of Megele to hold the line, but they were also getting hammered by the Harvesters who were not engaging the Spartan IIs to prevent them from giving any support to the Spartan IIs who were making sure to fight in the main battlefield itself in the main hold right in the field.

It was a serious fire fight and they were making sure that the other Harvesters were focusing on them instead of the older and more experienced Spartans and that worked well as they were ensuring that their fellow Spartans were not attacked as they carried on with the battle. At this point however, the others made the decision to move forward as the Spartan Slayers were focused on the older Spartans, they needed to clear the area and ensure that the Harvesters didn't choke them off from rescue. With the Spartan IIs mopping things up, things were looking up, but they were still going to need help and if they were able to cut the Harvesters from reinforcements, then all the better.

It was then that the rest of the team made their move and advanced forward, with the Vanguards and Cyclops units spear heading the assault and they closed in and attacked the Harvesters who were at the entrance. They were far better armored and were quick to shrug off the attacks and were soon breaking through the ranks of the Harvesters, but they were severely damaged in the attempts as the Harvester forces focused their fire on the charging units as well as their melee attacks, and even though the Vanguards and Cyclops units were able to take the damage, they were still severely damaged as the barrage hit them hard and fast, and as the battle wrapped up, they were soon forced to be left behind as they were badly damaged, showing that while they could easily handle smaller targets, they were not meant to handle that many at once in confined areas as there were plasma marks and gouges in the armor plating in various areas.

John then contacted the Nirvana for emergency extraction as they knew that they needed to move out of the area quickly so as to avoid being overwhelmed by their enemies, there was no telling when or if the Harvesters would deploy another force but they were not going to wait and let them do that either way. He could see that the battle had been very difficult and some of his Spartans were exhausted and needed to rest as well.

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The Nirvana's crew wasted no time and sent down the Albatross ships that were on standby ever since the battle started for the rapid extraction and the pilots onboard were quick to do what they possibly could to get the strike teams out of the area, the Harvesters were not relenting and it wa sonly with Hibiki and Jura using their VanDread's shield that the rescue boat was unmolested by the Harvesters. The Albatross was stripped bare of anything that was not worth taking and all the room was needed to house the teams to get them out as quickly as possible.

As soon as the vessel landed, the teams got in, many were badly wounded in the firefight and there was no doubt in the Master Chief's mind that this was going to be a turning point for him, the Harvesters had upped the ante on them and while none of his comrades were lost, he knew better than to let things slip just because of this victory.

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As the Spartans and their comrades evacuated, sadly leaving the severely damaged Vanguards and Cyclops units behind, they looked at the soon to be destroyed ship as a whole wing of Longswords came from space to escort them back to the Nirvana, many of them were somewhat exhausted from fighting the Spartan Slayers as despite defeating them, the machine beings were able to adapt and become something of a serious threat to the Spartan IIs as well as the Spartan IIIs at the same time.

As soon as the Albatross was out of the planet and they were in the Nirvana, the elderly captain made a sigh of mental relief as the Harvester forces had been forced to withdraw and regroup with their Harvester battleships which had arrived, as soon as she was given the signal that the ground team were in the ship, Magno quickly gave the order for a full retreat, there was no doubt protests from the men and women on the two ships but they quickly changed their minds as the Harvester battle group came towards them. Buzam quickly order them all the retreat to the other side of the planet at full speed to ensure that the rest of the planet would buffer the blast of all seven NOVA bombs and give them the time needed to escape.

Dreads and Vanguards quickly heeded the order and the Nirvana's aces in the hole, Hibiki Vanguard, Jura, Meia, and Dita's Dreads were quickly brought back into the ship and they all pushed their engines to full burn as they fled the battle. The Harvesters took the bait and quickly began to pursue the retreating forces by deploying advanced elements of their battle group to harry and slow down the retreating forces, unaware of the soon to come attack. As soon as they were in the best distance and being warned by Parfait that the engines couldn't handle any more speed, as well as warnings from Marcus and Cassandra, Magno gave the order and Cortana complied as she sent the signal to activate the NOVA Bombs.

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The end result of the detonation of the NOVA Bombs was seen as the Harvesters were suddenly hit hard by the massive release of energy from the detonation of the seven NOVA Bombs that were left in the Fore-runner Key ship, the massive power unleashed by all seven weapons was seen as the massive burning flash on the surface of the world was powerful enough to be seen by the fleeing Nirvana's crew, as well as that of the Titan's Wrath crew, and the Ruby Rapier's own crew even from the other side of the planet itself, the planet itself couldn't withstand such a combined assault from the seven UNSC built WMDs as the Forerunner Dreadnought contained the blast for a few brief moments, before it's structural integrity was finally lost.

On the surface, the destruction was evident as the Forerunner Key-ship's already severely damaged super structure finally lost any trace of stability in that exact moment as the ship was blown apart by the detonation and was soon incinerated by the NOVA Bombs. The ship was blown apart and before the pieces of the now completely decimated Forerunner ship could even fall apart, the pieces were consumed by the massive wave of light from the NOVA Bombs and were soon hit by the sheer heat and energy of the weapons.

The surface of the world was quickly incinerated in a heartbeat as entire mountains were easily reduced into puddles of glass, sand and earth were instantly destroyed by the detonation and the land was quickly hit by a flash of light that rivaled the very light of the stars, as soon as that happened a shockwave of intense force literally shook the whole planet apart. The destruction was more than enough to shake the planet to it's foundations as a massive wave of pure energy and radiation was sent flying away into the void of space.

The planet trembled at the blast as massive tracts of land were ripped out by the rapidly expanding blast of the combined NOVA Bomb detonation, sections of the planet's water ways were reduced to vapor in a moment while plants and animals died instantly and were reduced to ash and base molecules in that exact moment. The blast was intense enough to take over a quarter of the planet's surface and reduce it to near glass, the shockwave caused such destruction that it became too much for the planet to handle as chunks of it were sent flying up the atmosphere and a massive dust cloud was unleashed in a heartbeat that spread all over the world in mere moments. In that instant, the planet had been turned into a massive dust bowl of destruction as the heat cooked it all over. In moments the area where the Forerunner ship once resided was turned into something out of hell itself and the surrounding land was turned into a fiery nightmare.

As soon as it occurred, it raised hell on the Harvester Fleet as they were in the area of the wave itself, the massive waves of energy and radiation quickly overloaded the Harvester ships and caused Cube Fighters, Prism Fighters, Seed Ships, Space Urchin vessels to be shut down in moments as the energy washed over all of them. The next thing that followed was a massive wave of pure energy and explosive force that slammed hard into their Fleet and caused intense damage, destroying Cube Fighters, Seed Ships, Prism Fighters, Space Urchin Ships and more.

Even the heavily armored battleships were severely damaged as sections were torn up by the blasts. This was soon followed by massive debris that were sent towards them the energy even created massive arcs of lighting in space due to the energy released, the particles and radiation, unleashing titanic blasts of lighting that gouged holes into the plating of the battleships that were too close, two were instantly destroyed by the combined impact and worse as they were sliced apart by the energy bolts that were unleashed by such a detonation. The others were severely hit and were soon covered in explosions that tore entire sections off of the ships themselves. The chunks of the planet that followed further destroyed any surviving smaller ships and tore into the rest of the battle group, and they were soon lost. This lasted only for the briefest of moments but when it was over, an entire planet had been literally blown in half by seven bombs and an entire harvester battle group had been reduced to nothing but burning ruins.

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In the Nirvana two weeks later…

A good number of the Nirvana Fire Teams were currently in the Medical bay and trying their best to heal up after the intense battle before them in both the Nirvana from the stealth attacks of the Harvesters and some boarding attempts by the enemy, thankfully they were not fatal injuries but it was going to be a while before everyone in the groups could recover from the battle, the Spartans were also currently resting and recovering as the Spartan Slayers had pushed them considerably in the battle below in the planet. They knew that unlike the foes that they had faced before, these foes were better armed and programmed as well as being more organized and deadly. That wasn't the first time that they had faced foes that had pushed them to their limits, but this was the first time that they fought non sentient beings that had been more than able to match them.

The Titan's Wrath and the Ruby Rapier were still alongside the Nirvana, it's respective engineering teams making moving repairs but the tales of what had happened were still circulating on both ships, Magno and Buzam could only hope that this would bring good results for the need for both sides to finally agree in working together to face the threat that was no doubt not over. There were still other chances for them to forge alliances and hold that by the time they were able to make it back the home system of both Megele and Tarak, the two sides would heed their advice and consider a mutual alliance to fight the growing threat of the Harvesters themselves.

The fact that they had developed new tactics meant that sooner or later, they will unleash even more weapons and horrors on the universe and on all humanity in their desire to survive even if it meant wiping out all other human civilizations. That was something that they all had to prevent no matter what. This was in the minds of everyone in the Nirvana and even more so for the Spartans themselves.

They had beaten them, but the Spartans had no doubt that sooner or later, they were going to face them once more so they would have to train harder and make the needed changes in order to deal with the next encounter. At the moment, the Spartan IIIs were taking a much needed break and getting some sleep, while the Spartan IIs were taking the time to also unwind and rest.

All that is except for one of them, as John continued to review the information with his helmet off of his face as he was in the Main hall and looked at the holographic information as he sighed a bit, and he was tired, he knew that he needed to rest but he was still going to finish all of his work before finally getting some much needed shut eye.

He was so busy that he was not aware of someone walking up to him, but when he was, he tensed up just as the person spoke.

"It's just me John, relax big guy."

The Spartan II turned and despite his face being hidden by his helmet and the polarized golden visor, he was happy to see Cortana before him as she was dressed in her regular clothing, she seemed to be happy to see him as well as she smiled. The Spartan visibly relaxed at this as he was happy to see her, after the intense battle they had just taken part in no less than several hours before, he had been worried about her being affected by the energy emitted the detonation of all seven combined NOVA Bombs.

Cortana could see that and she replied.

"I'm fine John, Dr. Catherine….or rather….mom as she wants me to call her gave me a clean bill of heath."

John spoke about that as he was surprised by that statement.

"Mom?"

Cortana grinned a bit and nodded.

"Yeah, though it does make sense, I am genetically related to her and I was….well before becoming a human, I am created from her thought patterns. And in that regard, I am her daughter, though it is taking me some time to digest it all. Thankfully Mom's been supportive of the whole thing."

"I see…"

As the two relaxed, the Spartan decided to remove his helmet for the time being and Cortana noted that as she heard the slight hiss and snap as he placed the helmet down, he then placed the helmet aside and looked once more on the map before him as well as the information, allowing Cortana to look at him more closely. She looked at every feature on the Spartan's face….her Spartan's face actually.

The woman felt her body feel more relaxed as she looked at her long time protector and she couldn't help but feel her heart beat a bit faster than before. As she then hugged him tighter, feeling this urge to get closer to him, she could smell him, sure the scent was not too good, but it was his smell.

The Spartan noted that and spoke with a slightly teasing tone.

"You seem to be trying to smell me or something…."

Cortana raised an eyebrow at that and smirked.

"And what is I am doing just that?"

"Well….nothing wrong, though I might think that you might get offended and say that I need a bath right now."

"Maybe you do big guy, but right now…I like what I smell."

The Spartan laughed a bit at that, a warm and sincere laugh though subdued and controlled as he still wanted to keep his emotions and thoughts on a controlled keel, something that made Cortana happy and she suddenly decided to make a move that was tied more to some form of instinct as she moved into the area between the Spartan's arms and leaned on him, completely surprising the Spartan once he calmed down and looked at her.

"Cortana?"

The Spartan II was not sure what to make of what Cortana was doing but he didn't resist her as she leaned on him and even though he couldn't feel her due to his MJOLNIR Mark VI still on his body he couldn't help but feel something stir in him in that moment, something that seemed both foreign yet natural at the very same time. It was a warm feeling that started somewhere and began to flow through his body, moving slowly through him. He looked down and smelled something on her.

It was a scent that he had not noted before, it seemed like….roses and pine, as well as some hint of something that seemed to be totally female. It began to really affect him as he suddenly felt the urge to hold Cortana closer, he did just that while keeping his Spartan strength from harming the woman, and he held her closer to himself as he couldn't help but find the smell to be very nice.

The Spartan was not the only person being affected by the sudden change in the atmosphere as Cortana felt her heart begin to beat faster, she tried her best to figure out just what was happening to her as she had just intended to help keep John company during this moment but somehow she ended up doing this with the Spartan, not that she didn't like it, but that was what made no sense to her at all at the moment as this was the first time she had ever felt this way when she was close to John.

She wondered what these feelings were and she looked at John and to her surprise they were now face to face, apparently John had moved closer to get to the scent that she had on her and the woman was face to face with her long time protector, she looked at his face deeply and she couldn't help but admire his features once more, he was indeed attractive and she couldn't help herself as she reached out with her hand which she moved from his chest and she cupped his face, she mentally sighed as she felt his warmth and that feeling coupled with feeling John's skin on her hand made Cortana become even hotter and sure enough, she felt herself blush.

John saw that and couldn't help but be surprised by the sudden rush of color in Cortana's face, he didn't find it bad, but for some reason, he found it to be very….attractive for some reason, he had never seen Cortana blush before in all the time he had known her, before and after she became a living breathing human being, and it seemed to be something new, he had no idea what this might lead to, but he already began to feel that this would complicate things between her and him so he had to do something.

However, his train of thought was cut short when Cortana moved her hand that was suddenly pulled him to her, he was surprised and didn't resist and before he could speak, she kissed him gently on the lips, this had an effect on the Spartan as he felt his body suddenly become hotter, his heart also began to beat even faster by the second, the sensation was so new to him, yet he felt as if it was the most natural thing to happen to him at the very same time.

He tried to make sense of it, but his mind which normally was so focused on military matters. tactics and the like was suddenly overtaken by something else and before he could figure out what it was, he felt this urge to kiss her back.

Cortana was worried about that she was doing since John didn't seem to respond, she had no idea why she was doing this, she knew that this was something she had never done before in her whole existence and maybe she was wrong in letting her desires get to her, but she suddenly felt John respond and in that moment, all her thoughts were focused on deepening the kiss between her and the Spartan.

The two kissed one another deeply as time passed, and soon the kiss became even hotter as Cortana held the Spartan closer to her while he in turn held her close to him as he deepened the kiss, the two had no idea what they were doing, but they didn't seem to care as the desire to feel these emotions and sensations grew even more in the two of them. The kiss became more passionate by the second and it turned from a simple meeting of lips to a full blown kiss of passion.

While it was true that Spartans like John had their sexual drives suppressed by the Catalytic Thyroid Implant, it didn't get rid of it, that much was already obvious since Maria-062 had supposedly gotten married back on Earth and had children. That fact was now coming through as John suddenly turned Cortana around and he then made her sit on the holograph table and she sat there as the kiss became more torrid between them.

They finally parted as they realized that they needed to get some air into their lungs and when they did so, they were able to see the results of their actions on one another. John was amazed to see Cortana blushing wildly her breathing rate at a higher pace than before and her eyes had a fire them that held his gaze, he couldn't help but be more drawn to Cortana as the way she looked to him at this moment was utterly….woman.

The same could be said for Cortana as she looked at John, she couldn't help but notice that his own breathing was faster than before while he actually had a blush on his face, not as intense as her own no doubt, but it was there for her to plainly see on his face, and his eyes were also burning hot at the moment, it made her feel…proud to have made the normally calm and dedicated Spartan become this….flustered.

John then recovered and began to speak.

"Cortana….what did we just…."

Cortana smiled a bit, her feminine side as Dr. Catherine had said now took over as she hugged John and she whispered to him.

"It was….good, very good…"

"But…we're fraternizing, that's against UNSC…."

Cortana looked at John and she decided to take the initiative in this one, it seemed that what she heard her fellow female Talvernian allies aid to her once about men was true, women had to take the first strike as it were before their targets got away, and John was definitely in her target sights, and no way was she going to let him go.

"Keep in mind that everyone in the UNSC had families too, loved ones, and while some didn't do all that well, others have, so there's nothing wrong with this."

"But…."

"John….listen to me, it's true that you are a Spartan and you have been trained all your life for war and you are, more than human, but you are human still, I know that no amount of training can change that. This isn't easy for me either, but I want this badly, this is a brand new feeling for me for me, but it feels right. It might be just hormones and the like, but that certainly doesn't mean that if feels wrong to me."

Cortana moved further with her plan and held John's face closer to her own and spoke to him deeply.

"Besides, this is something that is human and natural for two who are….attracted to one another, it might just be my hormones, but this it also involves my feelings, feelings that have been growing inside me for a very long time. Besides, if I don't….do this….I feel, I feel like I will never get the courage to do this again."

John had never seen Cortana this vulnerable before, not even when she had been held prisoner by Gravemind in the corrupted hive of High Charity all those months before back in their world, and it hit him hard, he did care for Cortana, but ever since she had become human when they came here into this dimension, and their growing closeness, he began to feel something else for her, and it both confused and somehow elated him.

Now here he was, with Cortana, being like this before him and a voice in his head, something that was both foreign and familiar at the same time telling him to go ahead and do it. His military mind was telling him not to, yet that voice was losing it's hold on him for the moment. He tried to make sense of it all, yet when he looked at Cortana once more as she gently licked her lips totally out of reflex, he felt his mother, more male side take over as he spoke.

"All right….but Cortana, you are right about one thing."

Cortana looked at John with some level of confusion and he replied to her question.

"I am a human, but I lived a life of a soldier…I'm not exactly gifted in the realm of….intimacy."

Cortana however smiled warmly at that and spoke to him while rubbing her hand on his cheek.

"Don't worry, I already know what to do, come on, it would be asking for trouble if we….do it here, come on."

With that, the Spartan moved away from the table and allowed Cortana to move away from it, she then took him by the hand and they left, unmindful of the fact that they had left his helmet behind on the table. They finally found in the Forward Unto Dawn a fairly spacious cabin and saw that it was the Captain's secondary room, the room had a large bed there, several lockers, a table and chair for use as well as a terminal that was now locked into the Nirvana's data-net, and of course there was a bathroom with a shower, sink, toilet and even a bath tub if one can believe it and it had some basic amenities.

The two looked the place over and afterwards, Cortana turned to speak to the Spartan, she knew that she was a lot better prepared for this than John was. Although he had received a top of the line education in the various subjects that would aid him in the field of battle, the Spartan curriculum didn't have anything on physical intimacy and the like. She on the other hand had access to ALL the knowledge of humanity, including the more, intimate and sexual aspects of it; she retained it in her after she had been turned into a full blooded human and her time with understanding things with Dr. Catherine had also helped as well.

She looked at the place and spoke to John to remove his armor and take a shower, John was a bit surprised by this and decided to get things done quickly as he began to meticulously remove his MJOLNIR Mark VI, unaware that he was doing so right in front of Cortana, and she didn't mind that to say the very least as she absorbed the sight of her long time protector stripping his MJOLNIR Mark VI armor before her. As soon as he was done, he went to the bath room and as soon as she heard him turn on the water, the former UNSC A.I decided that maybe she also needed to take a shower with him. Wasting no time, Cortana stripped herself naked and as soon as she got in, she was greeted by John who turned and saw her.

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(Lemon Time! You heard it right ladies and gents, VanDread Halo's FIRST Lemon is now in the works!)

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John could only stare at Cortana as the two of them were currently in the bathroom as the shower continued to spray water on the two of them and in that moment, he was amazed by the beauty that she had before him. When he had seen her naked for the first time after she became fully human, he had not noticed it at all since he was so concerned for her safety and afterwards, they returned to being partners like before, now however, things were different, Cortana's actions had sparked a fire in his body and his feelings for her had changed, so now, he was taking full notice of her form.

Her hair was still the same form as before but with the water in them they flowed like waves of wet brown silk with the water reflecting the light like diamonds, her face was also covered in droplets of water, making her face all the more attractive as her eyes were glowing in the light as well, Cortana was beautiful indeed to anyone's standards, and that was becoming all the more apparent to the Spartan as he looked at her completely. He moved his gaze from her face to the rest of her body.

Cortana had the form and figure to go with her age, as she was up to half his chin in height, with him being 6.10 without the MJOLNIR Mark VI on him. She had all the right curves and swells that would make any man who appreciated the female form and the female sex very interested in looking at her as there was not an ounce of excess fat on her that was visible, a testament to the fact that she had a very efficient metabolism as well as her own regime of keeping healthy by training and exercise.

Her long and slender arms had muscle on them as a testament to her own training as John gently looked at her more. His eyes naturally moved to her chest and her breasts as well, they were full and firm with deep pink areoles and nipples, her lower body was well toned and her slightly tanned skin was smooth and had no scars on her, the Spartan also saw the flatness on her toned stomach as well as the smooth curves of her sides as well as her hips, making her look all the more attractive to him. He looked to see the patch of hair there between her thighs as he looked at her legs which were well formed and toned with muscle. He looked at Cortana from head to toe once more and couldn't help but feel his body begin to react even more to the sight before him.

As for Cortana, her view of the Master Chief was just as arousing to her, he looked at the hair that had grown a bit more which was also being soaked by the water and turning into a mass of brown wet silk before her, he looked at the Spartan's deep green eyes and also his face, John was very attractive to any woman who could appreciate the beauty in the male form and John, due to his life time of training, discipline innate genetic traits, and the augmentations was a very strong example of the male form in it's best.

His pale skin might have seemed out of place but she had seen it too many times to be put off by it as she looked at him carefully, While most men would have gone to the gym to build their muscles, John was already well muscled to begin with due to his life as a Spartan and the augmentations he had undergone as a young man. Cortana looked at him very slowly, taking in every detail of his now naked form as she looked at his arms, she knew that with just a portion of his augmented strength, he could easily cripple or kill a normal person, she moved her gaze on them and saw the scars.

There were some on his arms, shoulders, and even his chest and toned stomach, she knew them quite intimately since she had been there with him when he got injured in the long career that they had when they were still fighting the Covenant, some were also wounds from friendly weapons-fire from Marines and the like, other scars were shrapnel wounds. The scars had faded but she recalled them and she gently ran her fingers on them to get used to the feel of them on her fingers, she looked down and spotted the part of John's body that showed him to be a full blooded male, and she gasped.

Apparently John was well….gifted in the size department, she was no expert in that part of male physiology but she could see that he was going to be a literal handful, even if he wasn't full aroused, the Spartan's full length was at least six to seven inches, something that was very impressive considering the fact that the Spartan was not fully aroused yet, but she could see him begin to get harder and a bit longer, she couldn't help but feel her body react to the whole picture of her protector and love interest as she felt her heart beat faster and she couldn't help but feel the need to touch John's naked form.

She didn't hesitate as she continued to touch him and she felt her body become even more excited and she could see that her actions were having an effect on the Spartan as well as he began to moan out in pleasure, something that she had never heard him utter before in her whole time of working with the Spartan, and it served to drive her even more to touch John, she then recalled something that Dr. Catherine had mentioned to her during a meeting in her annual medical check-up as well as her usual discussion on her life as a human.

Catherine had mentioned that one of the augmentations done to John in his youth which was on his nervous system can sometimes amplify sensations that a Spartan could feel, it all depended on the stimulation involved, the Spartans were already familiar with painful sensations as well as gentle ones, but the others were new to them. This was now being shown as the truth as John continued to moan out in pleasure and she could see his cock beginning to get even harder, the sight of the Spartan being like this in her hands made Cortana feel even more powerful, it even rivaled the sensations she had when she first interfaced with Halo's information network when they first came there on the Pillar of Autumn.

Cortana moved her hands over John's body and then decided to use her lips as well as her tongue as she leaned closer and began to kiss John's form as well as even lick his skin, finding it to be rougher then her own skin but warm and delightful to the touch and taste as she licked him slowly along with lavishing him with gentle kisses, she gave special attention to the scared areas of the Spartan's body and she relished the way he moaned out and sometimes said her named.

"Cortana…."

John had no idea why he was being assaulted by such sensations before but he was not going to go against it, as a Spartan, he was familiar with a range of things and feelings, but all those things were only related to fighting though he had felt other things from time to time, such as satisfaction for a job well done on either working on his gear or his MJOLNIR Mark VI or in training with the other Spartans, Hibiki, and the Nirvana Fire Teams, relief that a mission had gone well enough without too many injuries for his forces, and several others. Pleasure and this intimacy were totally foreign feelings to him but he couldn't turn away as the pleasure continued to flow all throughout his body, it was like a wave of pure sensation had flooded every nerve in his body as Cortana continued to touch him with her hands, lips, and tongue.

He finally decided to do something about it as he began to move his hands on Cortana's own naked body while making sure not to use his full strength, he had no idea what he was doing but something in his mind was telling him to do the same things that Cortana was doing to him at this moment. He started to run his fingers on her body slowly, namely on her spine and her shoulder blades, he then heard her moan out a bit in pleasure at his actions and it seemed to make him feel a lot more….satisfied, and the way Cortana moaned at his touch was something that served to make him a lot happier.

"Mmmm….that's nice….I was beginning to wonder about when you….were going to join in."

"Sorry about that…I…"

"It's all right….you….you can touch the rest of me you know…"

John gulped at that as he slowly began to run his hands on Cortana's body, slowly running his hands on her back all the way to her buttocks, gently touching them as he felt the sensations flow through him as he felt the smoothness of her skin there as well as hearing her moan out in even greater pleasure at his actions as she moved away her head from her licking and sucking on his chest to kissing him deeply as she then began to rub her naked form on him. The sensations she felt in that moment grew even more intense by the second as she felt her now hardened nipples rub on John's chest as she pressed herself closer to him while they continued to kiss one another, she could feel John's growing heart beat as well as his breathing grow, she loved it as she allowed him to move his hands on her hips then to her sides as well as her thighs, he then broke the kiss between them as she moaned out deeply in his ears while speaking at the very same time to him.

"I guess you're a quick study when it comes…..mmmmm….to touching a woman."

"Lucky me…."

Both John and Cortana smiled a bit at that as they continued to kiss and caress each other, the woman took it further however as she moved her hands down and touched the part of John that was at full attention and she gasped, it was amazing to the touch, soft and smooth skin yet hard flesh underneath the skin like steel rods, and it was at a very nice length and she briefly wondered if anyone in the UNSC had any idea how those augmentations affected the human body? One thing was for sure, if any woman found out about the enhancements then who knew how they would take it? John's cock was one inch shy of a foot and a half and that fact was more than enough to make Cortana both aroused and worried as thoughts filled her head. What if it couldn't fit into her? What if she couldn't take all of it? What if it hurt too much for her to handle?" For a brief moment she was hit by the desire to give up what they were doing.

But just as easily as those thoughts came to her mind, they easily faded away as well, she wanted this and damn the consequences, she had grown too attached to him and she….loved him too much to turn away from him now. With that in mind she carried on as she began to examine his cock slowly moving her hands carefully to make sure that not only did she have the sight of it burned into her mind, but the feel of it was burned in her mind as well, she looked at John and saw that her actions had a very strong effect on the Spartan as he was blushing hard and his eyes were burning pools of green fire and that excited her to no end.

"Cortana…..ahhhhhh…..this is…."

The former UNSC A.I focused herself as she continued her actions on his cock as she then moved closer to rub her breasts once more on his body and to her surprise, the Spartan decided to get into the act as his hands moved to her chest as he began to touch her breasts, this action was more than enough to excite her as she moaned out her lover's name as well.

"John….."

This carried on until Cortana realized that while doing it in the bathroom was not a bad thing, it was their first time so it would be better if they did it in a more formal way, with that in mind and with extreme reluctance she stopped her actions and spoke to John though she hoped that he was able to control himself, the fire in his eyes and the way he was right now was a bit worrying to her despite her trust in him that was built up for a long time due to their respective time together.

"John….we….can't do this here….I think a bed would be more….suitable."

John looked at her and for a brief moment , he wanted to damn the consequences and do it or whatever it was in his mind that was roaring at him with the force of the Super MAC Cannon on an Orbital Defense Platform going off to get this whole thing done with Cortana, but that was quickly dashed as he saw the pleading and vulnerable look in her eyes, showing that she was a bit fearful of his possible reaction and as soon as his control came back, he couldn't blame her, he was so enthralled by the sensations and feelings that he would easily lose control and he might do something to her that would hurt and frighten her, the way she looked when she had been an A.I in the clutches of Gravemind as he rescued her from that monster was enough to stop him in his tracks, he would never let any harm come to Cortana and hurting her was the worst thing he could do to her at this point.

He took a calming breath and nodded.

"Right, sorry….I guess I….uh…."

Cortana smiled gently as she hugged John in thanks as she could see that he had managed calm himself well enough so they could carry on soon enough. She then moved way from the shower and took a pair of towels nearby and then two of them dried each other out, and she smiled at the nervous way John was acting as she asked him to dry her, he was so gentle with her body as he dried her, almost like she was a living statue of glass and one wrong move would break her.

She found it undeniably amusing and endearing that his hands which were honestly powerful enough to crush old Earth concrete to powder, carry enough weight to equal an entire sixty six ton tank, and hit with enough force to bend steel and crush bones as well as send normal people flying back several feet were so gentle with her. She felt so cherished by John in this moment that she felt like she was going to faint, but she placed that aside as she also gently dried her lover's naked form with a towel as well as drying her own naked form.

Once that was done between the two of them, they left the bathroom and as soon as they were there, Cortana gently pushed John to the bed and he sat down there without any form of resistance to her unspoken commands, further arousing her as she relished the fact that John was not trying to resist her at all, this made her realize how much he cared for her to not try to fight her and he was more than willing to let her have her way for this time. She then decided to reward her protector and lover as she began to kiss him once more while gently asking him to move backwards a bit more. He complied with her request as she was now on top of him and she studied him once more with her eyes wanting to savor this moment as she looked at his fully naked form.

Cortana relaxed herself as she moved back to kissing John deeply as he responded deeply as well with their tongues now dueling with one another as the woman began to move her hands on her lover's body once more, starting at the shoulders, then the length of his arms, then his chest and his stomach, she still loved the feel of his naked form in her hands until she moved away from the kiss and began to lavish kisses on her lover's form, each step she took in pleasuring the Spartan served to pleasure her at the very same time as she felt the hardness and warmth of his form, John naturally was not going to be left behind as he touched her with his own hands though he didn't do anything to stop her from her already deep examination of his form. As she reached his lower half she couldn't help but examine his sex in far greater detail and she couldn't help but be awed by all this as she looked at it, gathering every detail into her mind.

"Cortana, stop it."

Cortana looked at John and she couldn't help but be amused as she saw him blushing in what was termed embarrassment, a totally new emotion in her mind to the Spartans as he had NEVER been embarrassed before in his life, and now he was as he tried not to look at her.

This was yet another thing that amused Cortana, before her was one of the most recognized UNSC war heroes and had faced the Covenant and the Flood without batting an eyelash, took on odds that would have sent any other soldier cowering in their foxholes, pulled amazing victory from the jaws of defeat every time, and now he was acting like a bashful schoolboy with her! It was just too amusing and endearing to her at the very same time.

She however cared for John's feelings as she moved to caress his face with her hand and replied.

"Sorry, but I can't….I can't help it, you are very handsome you know….don't be embarrassed about this, in fact I can bet any other woman who knew about the joys of intimacy with men would have willingly just ravished you right here and now. You have nothing to be embarrassed about John, at least not with me."

"I…guess not, sorry, I've never done this before."

Cortana smiled and kissed him once more and spoke.

"Neither have I….you know that. We're both new at this, and to be honest, that fact that we already have been together for so long kind of makes this special for the two of us. I want this to be good for both of us so don't be embarrassed about this, I know what to do."

John then reached with his own hand and caressed Cortana's cheek as he kissed her back, showing without words that he was all right, this made Cortana relax more as she began to access what she learned of male anatomy as well as the things she had learned on this matter, she knew that she had to be careful with this and she went slowly, all the while making several glances at John to see how she was handling things right, the fact that he was moaning her name in pleasure was enough to convince her that her current actions were working well enough.

She moved to focus on her lover's body once more, repeating the actions she had done previously on John, feeling how he shivered at her touch and she moved to caress his cock once more, hearing the Spartan moan out in pleasure at her actions made her happy as she carefully began to explore his sex with a very serious eye, looking for the right places to touch in order to bring him the best pleasure that she could manage.

She started to move lower to his testicles, gently rubbing them with her hand, making the Spartan all the more aroused as she felt him twitch under her touch, she carried on with her actions for bit longer as John held the sheets tighter as the pleasure flowed through him and was evident in his breathing and the way he moaned out Cortana's name.

"Cortana…..ahhhhhhh….."

The Spartan had no way to handle the pleasure flowing through every inch of his body at this moment but his discipline was holding strong to say the very least as he gripped the sheets tightly in his hands as she touched his sex slowly moving her hands up and down his cock as well as gently touching his testicles.

The woman then decided that now was the time to let John have her turn, she knew of something that would be really pleasurable for him, the idea of allowing John to feel his first orgasm of the day was very tempting, and while that method was both new and tempting, she decided that it would be better for another time in the night, after all, they had the whole night to do this, and besides that, she felt her sex also getting wetter by the second, she knew from her access to human knowledge and with her chats with several members of the female crew from both the Nirvana and the Talvernians as well as Dr. Catherine that her current wetness there in her vagina was the sign that she was ready for her to be filled by John's sex, she already knew the mechanics involved but she was eager to feel it for herself, she wanted to experience those feelings for her own so now was a very good a time as any. With that in mind she stopped and moved to lie down on the bed and spoke gently to John.

"Now it's your turn…be gentle all right John?"

The Spartan nodded, showing that he had his military control back, but in reality he was shaking like a leaf inside of himself as he knew that he had no idea how to do this, however he decided to try doing the same things she had done to him as well to be fair, he started by kissing her deeply once he was on top of her while making sure not to smother her with his body, as soon as the kiss ended between the two of them , he began to caress her body with his hands while continuing to kiss her body while also using his tongue though his actions were not as refined as Cortana's own, owing due to the fact that he had no prior knowledge or experience.

However, Cortana didn't mind that in the very least and John was naturally a quick learner as he began to find ways to make her moan out his name in pleasure with each movement of his hands, lips, and tongue on her naked form.

"John….mmmm….there….right there."

The two lovers were going at it until John finally reached Cortana's breasts, he couldn't help but admire them now as he gently reached out to touch them hoping not to hurt Cortana in some way, but her moans of pleasure plus the way her breasts moved with her breathing was more than enough to tell the Spartan that his actions were more than welcomed by the former UNSC A.I

"MMMMMM!!!!"

Cortana moaned out deeply as John continued to kiss her breasts slowly and touch her breasts with considerable gentleness, the pleasure that flowed through her as she felt his tongue on her breasts and nipples made her moan out even more, and that served to make John all the more eager to pleasure her as his actions began to get stronger and more precise as his hands and tongue moved over her breasts.

John himself had to admit that the taste of her skin was something that seemed to make him want more, he wanted to taste her fully and the feeling of her breasts seemed to arouse more fire in his body more than anything he had felt thus far in his life as a soldier, he couldn't help but have to restrain himself from losing all his control as he continued to lavish attention to Cortana's breasts, he then moved his hands away, running them slowly on her sides, all the way to her hips as well while he began to suck on her nipples slowly while using his tongue at the very same time.

"John….mmmmm…..right there…."

The two carried on and the results of their actions on one another's body were obvious to the them as John felt his cock become harder and he felt this eagerness in him that seemed to call him to do something, as for Cortana, she felt her pussy become even wetter by the second like every nerve in her body was on fire and she wanted John to finally end the whole thing in the most pleasurable way possible. She already had an idea on what this desire meant and she looked at John as he finally moved away from his pleasurable assault on her breasts while still running his hands on her body, as soon as she was sure that she had her Spartan's attention, she spoke to spoke to him.

"John….I need….you….inside me….hurry…"

"I….all right….I'll try."

John managed to understand some part of what he had to do in order for Cortana to feel the pleasure she wanted as he moved between her legs, he looked to see her sex already dripping wet and while he wanted to see what it looked like, his mind had other more primal thoughts in it at the moment, and this served the Spartan well, for despite not having done this himself for the past thirty years since he was always fighting, his suppressed male instincts were now coming to life. As soon as he was sure he was in position, he listened to the voice in his mind and slowly pushed his hips forward.

"Oooooh!"

Cortana moaned out deeply as she felt herself being penetrated by her lover's cock, she couldn't help but relish these new sensations of being filled her John's sex, she felt it flow through her as the tip of John's cock went past her pussy's outer lips, making its way deeper into her sex she held onto the bed sheets for the moment until she reached out to hold John's arms and the feel of his strong arms in her hands made her feel even more aroused until finally, with one final push, John was buried deeply inside of her, bypassing the barrier she had in there.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

Cortana cried out deeply as she felt herself being filled to the brim by her lover's cock, the pain she felt was brief and was soon removed and she felt her body begin to adjust to the feeling of John's cock buried deeply into wet sex, she couldn't help but be amazed at how well he fit into her, almost as if her body was specially made to suit his just fine. She couldn't help but wonder if the Paeksis, when it made her a flesh and blood human being, had this in mind.

The feeling of being perfectly built to suit her Spartan to such a degree was amazing, in the past she had chosen him because of their neural compatibility, as well as seeing his records and his luck, as well as admitting that he was kind of cute, in a primitive animal sort of way. But now that she had this human body, it made her think that they were made for one another, his entire length was deep inside of her and she felt no discomfort or pain, only the feeling of oneness with her Spartan. But she knew that despite the pleasure she got and the joy of being united with John in such an intimate way, there was more to come so now was not the time to slow down with their actions with one another, she then spoke to John.

"John….now, move your hips back and forth so…"

John however spoke while blushing still as he felt the pleasure all around him, the wetness, tightness, softness, and heat from Cortana's inner walls were something that he had never felt before in his life, and as soon as he was buried deeply into Cortana's wet sex, he was amazed that he was actually this deep inside of her. He had been worried that he might be able to put it all in and ending up hurting Cortana in some fashion, but now that it was done, it was worth it and when he heard Cortana speak he figured out easily just what was it she had in mind for the day.

"Are you…?"

Cortana nodded and replied.

"Please…"

That was more than enough to convince the Spartan that this was not the time for words as he went ahead to do what she was asking of him.

As he slowly moved his hips back, he heard Cortana gasp and moan out in pleasure and he could understand why as he was also moaning a bit as he felt her walls caress the full length of his cock in a very delicious fashion, all his discipline was put to the ultimate test as the feeling of his cock being caressed by Cortana's inner walls ran all over his body, he managed to hold onto his sanity at this point and was nearly out, he looked at Cortana who was blushing wildly while she looked at him with her eyes burning with passion and silently pleading with him.

He pushed back in at that moment and was soon back inside of Cortana's pussy, the reaction was obvious as Cortana cried out in pleasure.

"YESSSSSSS!!!!"

The former UNSC A.I relished that action, the feeling of it all, both John's movement out of her sex and then back in was utterly delicious, she knew that in the scientific mind, that this was how men placed their sperm into a woman, but the pleasure was only clinically described in the archives, experiencing the pleasure first hand was a completely different situation all together. It was not long before she was caught in the desire to feel even more pleasure from the actions of her lover as she spoke out to John.

"Harder! Faster John!!!....Ooooooh!!!!"

The Spartan said nothing as he felt all his logic and reasoning taking a full fledged back seat to his desire to go all out and pleasure the woman before him in this fashion though he did remember not to hurt her as he began to pick up his pace.

As he moved deeply into Cortana's pussy, the two of them were feeling wave after wave of pleasure that they had never felt before in their respective lives, for Cortana it felt like she was being flooded with all the most delicious and pleasurable sensations as she felt each thrust of her lover's cock into her wet and hot sex. Each thrust in and out was so delicious that she doubted that anything that she had felt matched this pleasure and joy. For John, it was a feeling that defied anything he had felt before, he felt relief and happiness when it came to seeing friends and comrades make it out of the most hellish battles, but this was something else entirely, he and Cortana were always close due to their long history and time together. This however made that bond even closer as he was literally becoming one with her.

He looked at her, seeing the pleasure in her flushed and sweating face was more than enough to show how much she enjoyed the moment between them. He looked at her and without hesitation, moved forward to kiss her deeply on the lips, and Cortana was more than happy to reply in kind as they kissed one another deeply as the Spartan began to speed up his actions on her sex.

As time passed between them, the two relished the pleasure they gave one another, the Spartan began to pick up the pace while the former UNSC A.I began to move her inner muscles to give her lover and protector all the more pleasure. The lovers continued as the Spartan was now moving in fast and hard into his lover's pussy while she held him close as they continued to kiss each other senseless.

It was not long before they finally reached their respective limits and they made that obvious as they parted from one another and both cried out as they finally felt their respective orgasm hit them hard and fast.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

For John it felt like he was unleashing all of his essence into Cortana and for a brief moment, he was worried that she couldn't handle it, but seeing that she was able to handle it well enough, he relaxed as he felt his body unleash more and more of his inner essence into her body, it amazed him that he had felt his way before. It was something special to him as he felt this greatest pleasure only with Cortana.

Cortana moaned a bit in joy as she felt herself being filled to the brim by her lover's seed, it felt somehow delicious and fulfilling at the very same time. She could feel it fill every corner of her body and she could tell from the expression on the Spartan's face that he was utterly enjoying the feeling as well as she was, that made the whole moment all the more wonderful in her mind, it amazed her that despite the amount of his seed that her Spartan released in her in his orgasm, she was not feeling limited and was able to take more of it into her.

She had heard about how human men and women would do this act not just to have children, both in her time studying humans, but to show love and feel pleasure in being with one another. As an AI she knew the science behind it all, as well as the 'feelings' but that was just data to her….now it was different. She loved John deeply and cared for his well being, now that they had done this….it was worth every moment.

As they relaxed, the Spartan gently moved away from Cortana, wanting to make sure that he didn't accidentally smother her. However, the woman was not going to be content for long, she had gathered a lot of information about sex in her free time, and now was the right time to see which was fact and which was fiction….either way, she knew one thing, it was going to be worth every moment of it all.

--------

Later….

"OOOOOHHHHH!!!! HARDER!!!!"

Cortana was in utter pleasure as she straddled John's hips as she was on top of him and moving up and down while John was moving his hips up and down and his hands were on her breasts, massaging them gently as she continued to feel the pleasure hit her hard and fast. She looked down at John as he was gently breathing in deeply to get the most energy into his limbs and his stamina was really getting into the forefront of their passionate lovemaking.

Each thrust of her hips down was met with John's own upward thrusts, allowing her feel his cock reach deeply into her, making her feel more alive than before while she felt her lover's hands on her hips as well as on her breasts. The former A.I felt the pleasure flood her body in every possible way until she couldn't help but feel like she was soaking into a hot tub of pleasure and she knew that the same could be said for John as she could tell from the looks on his face.

John himself had to admit that after what they had just done with one another before, this felt different but no less wonderful as he continued to thrust upwards hard and fast.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!"

"MORE!!!! HARDER!!!"

"MMMMM…..JOHN….FEELS SO GOOD!!!!"

"CORTANA!!!!!"

Both lovers cried out as Cortana arched her back as she climaxed hard for the second time this night and she felt herself orgasm once again when she felt John's seed flow into her deeply once more, she would never get tired of that feeling at all, she leaned back and lay down on John's own chest loving the feel of his hardened, muscled form underneath her own. She would never get tired of the feeling as she decided to take thing up a notch as she smirked seductively at the Spartan.

"Ready for another go?"

John blushed a bit more, he knew he had more than enough stamina for this sort of thing, he was a bit worried about Cortana though since she might run out of energy soon and be really tired, however, she seemed to be more than ready for another round. He sighed mentally and replied.

"You're on."

--------

Later still….

"Mmmmm….."

"Cortana…."

The Spartan couldn't help but moan out in pleasure, and why not? Considering the fact that Cortana was using her mouth on his cock, she took his cock into her mouth, showing that she was able to do so despite the length and thickness, and the sight of her doing that to him was going to be burned in his mind for a very long time, he had NO idea where Cortana got this, but he was not going to ask or complain as Cortana knew what she was doing already so no sense interfering on his part.

Cortana took her time to do this right, she made sure to recall all the information that she had on the whole technique as she moved her head back and forth, she then gave a slight glance at John and she loved what she was seeing before her at this point and time as he was really enjoying this, she took all the time she had in the world as she continued with her actions, she knew that she would have to return the favor soon enough to John once she was able to finally get him to release himself once more. Though she knew for a fact that this would be a first to her as well as she had never done anything like this before.

"Ahhhhh….."

It was not long before John finally felt his body release another wave of energy through him as he climaxed once more and Cortana felt the first streams hit her mouth, the heat, thickness, and taste were so new to her that despite the amount that came out, she was able to handle it just fine as she took in more of her lover's cum. Once she was done, she moved away and leaned back as she then parted her legs, allowing John to look at her form completely as she spoke.

"You're turn."

John gulped a bit as he felt himself move closer to Cortana as she gently guided him with both her hands as well as her words, he moved to her sex and then his sense of smell was able to pick up the smell of Cortana's juices and before he could figure out what to do in a situation like this one, the voice in his brain was quick enough to guide him as he examined the way Cortana's sex looked, making the woman blush even more though she was beginning to become somewhat impatient as she spoke to him.

"John….please….use your tongue and….ahhhhh!"

The Spartan did so and that was more than enough to make Cortana happy as she continued to relax under her Spartan's actions and she was quick to finally reach her own release as he had before and it was a delicious sensation as she finally had her first orgasm with a very loud cry.

"YES!!!!!!!"

John took in as much as he could manage at this point and time and it was worth every moment in his mind as he tasted Cortana's juices for the very first time.

As soon as both relaxed, Cortana sighed as she recalled the taste of her lover's seed, it was slightly salty but sweet as well, something that she could quite easily get used to given time and patience, as for John he too had to admit that tasting the juices that were coming out of Cortana's own sex was different, sweet, with a slightly tangy aftertaste. It was not bad at all, and he might get used to it as well.

It was then that Cortana felt the need to try something new, she had been able to learn enough and heard the stories so she decided to see if those were true, she looked at John and smirked once more as she moved over to him and kissed him while on all fours on the bed and whispered to him.

"It's not the end just yet."

--------

"Ahhhh…..yessss…..harder….harder!!!"

"Cortana….this is…."

John gasped as he and Cortana were once more at it again, only this time she was on both hands and knees while he was behind her with his hands on her hips and moving his own hips back and forth while his cock went in and out of her pussy from behind, the two were moving at a much quicker pace at this point as the pleasure hit them at the same time, John then moved his hands from her hips, to her breasts, pleasuring them as well as her nipples to make Cortana feel all the more aroused as they continued with their position.

Cortana relished the pleasure that came to her with each thrust, the angle of position allowed her to feel John's cock hit her spot even more, making her juices flow out even more from her sex. This went on for a lot longer until Cortana looked back and kissed John as he leaned towards her and the kiss became all the more heated as their tongues were dueling with one another all the more fiercely. It was not long before the two finally reached orgasm and at the very same time no less.

The two remained in that position for a bit more as Cortana felt her body being filled once again by John's seed, the feeling of the heat and thickness of it flowing into her body was an utterly delicious feeling that she would never replace for as long as possible and the could be said for John as he felt Cortana's inner walls milk his cock deeply. As soon as that was over, the two parted from one another and lay down on either side.

Cortana felt her body become relaxed and tired at the same time, she however was not content with just what they have done and she was going to make sure that they were going to have all the time in the world to do what they liked. She proved it as she whispered to John.

"Don't relax just yet my Spartan….the night is still young."

John could only look at Cortana with some level of surprise on his face as it seemed that she was ready for yet another round. It amazed him that she was still willing to go at it and he was worried that she was taking it too far.

"Cortana….I think now's not a good time…."

"Oh I beg to differ, but I prefer the phrase in Latin, "Acta Non Verba' I believe."

--------

"Mmmmmm…..yesssss……like that John….harder!!!!"

John couldn't help but do as Cortana asked of him as he was once more moving his cock deeply in her sex while she leaned back on the wall and her legs were on top of his arms, this position had them leave the bed and Cortana was leaning back on the wall and he did what she instructed. As the two continued with their actions, John then moved away from the wall and held onto Cortana as she continued with her actions as she moved up and down on his cock.

The feel of it all was delicious for the both of them and while most men would have been rendered exhausted by what they were doing before, the Spartan II had more than enough energy for this though he had his worries about Cortana herself as she was no doubt already going to be very tired from all the things that they had been doing since the whole moment between them.

"Ahhhhh…..yesssss…..more!!!!"

It was not long before Cortana finally made her last downward thrust of her hips and the two finally hit the limits, and this was the right moment that Cortana also hit her limits as she held onto John tightly, the Spartan sensed the changes in her breathing and heart rate, and that told her that she had finally reached her limits. With that he gently carried her to the bed and despite the results of their previous….adventures, the bed was still good to sleep on.

As soon as they relaxed, Cortana smiled at John as she hugged him close to her as sleep finally got it's hold on both of them.

--------

As the two lovers slept together, they were unaware of the door being opened silently as someone went into the room, the person gasped a bit and instead of waking the Spartan and former UNSC A.I, the person decided to leave the area, and closed the door.

This was minutes after the two finally woke up, Cortana being the first and she couldn't help but feel some level of happiness and some level of aches in her body and they were good aches as she blushed heavily at the memories of what the two of them had done last night as she had to admit that the Master Chief had QUITE the stamina, as expected from a life time of training and the augmentations plus his own level of physical strength and power. The good thing was that despite all the things they did, he was still very careful not to hurt her in any fashion and that was nice, she looked to see John waking up and without any hesitation she leaned forward to kiss him on the lips.

"Mmmm…"

This time John didn't hesitate in the least as he kissed her back and gently touched her face as they kissed one another. After the heavy kissing session between the two came to a halt, the former A.I gently caressed her lover's face and she spoke.

"That was….amazing…."

"You'll get no argument from me on that account."

Cortana smiled at that as she rubbed her body on his once more, making him moan a bit at her sudden action of seduction and he reacted by touching her breasts with his hands, making her blush once more.

"You're not being fair John."

"Neither are you."

With that the two laughed a bit together and then decided to get dressed, Cortana however dressed first and did so slowly so to give her Spartan a good show. After all, he had been with her through everything back in their world and here so she had every right to view him as HER Spartan, though in this case, that might change to her lover and boy-friend as well as protector. As soon as she was done with changing into her clothes, John was next and they took their time in putting back on his MJOLNIR Mark VI.

The two decided to head back to the planning table to get John's helmet which he had left behind last night, however when they got there, they were greeted by the sight of Dr. Catherine smirking a bit and for a brief moment, they felt like they were being studied by the UNSC scientist and she then spoke to the two of them.

"So….how was last night?"

John was confused by that and so was Cortana for a moment until she realized that Catherine was saying and she blushed deeply and spoke.

"You….you know about me…and John?"

Catherine smiled and replied.

"Yes, you know, I suggest that if this happens between you two again, you try to use a more unique password so no one could barge in on the two of you. I might have caught you when the whole thing was over, but if I or anyone else caught you in mid action….then you two have some explaining to do."

Both Spartan and former UNSC Ai blushed and tried to look away from Catherine and she laughed a little bit at the pair and gently spoke.

"Relax, I had a feeling that it was going to happen sooner or later, by the way John."

"Y-Yes ma'am?"

"I hope that you were gentle with Cortana that night, it would be hard even for me to explain to the others if she got some hickey marks."

"MOTHER!!!!"

Cortana blushed fiercely at this and wished that she could find a place to hide but John stopped her gently with his hand on her shoulder and he replied to Catherine's words.

"I would never hurt Cortana, Ma'am."

Catherine smiled at that and Cortana felt even more embarrassed but also happy about that as she stayed close to John as the scientist could see that there was a very strong bond between the Spartan and the woman who was her 'daughter' and it was a good thing, they had been together through so many dangers that it was a good thing that they could always rely on one another to see things through. That was a good thing to have in the soon to come battles though it was going to take a while before that bond fully matured.

"Good, anyway, I know that sooner or later this might come out but for now, you're secret is safe with me, in the mean time I think it would be best that both of you have a checkup and also take some much needed time together, and Cortana…"

"Yes mother?"

"When we're alone you tell me how it was, and I want all the details."

Cortana blushed even more while Catherine smiled and for the first time, John smiled warmly.

--------

To be continued…

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Author's Notes:

Well that wraps up this gem of a story arc, now to clarify when I said in the previous chapter that, I will be ending the story, I was referring to this arc and not the story itself, I have no intention of giving up on VanDread Halo The Second Stage and I want to end this story myself so no need to worry about it.

Speaking of which, we have just read the first lemon in VanDread Halo The Second Stage and you can bet that there will be others soon enough, John and Cortana had just crossed the Rubicon as some would say and have done the deed. Will this result in Cortana getting pregnant? That's a distinct possibility and there will be a chance that John and Cortana will one day become parents.

If you want to know how it might act out….here's an idea.

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Trailer:

Mendez couldn't help but shake his head as he, John, Dr. Catherine, Magno, Buzam, Duero, Paiway, and Cortana looked at the information being shown in Cortana's latest physical.

When Cortana began to suffer some weight gain, sudden cravings for food, sickness, and the like, John was totally shocked and beside himself, trying to figure out what was wrong with her, he had taken Cortana to the Medical Bay for a checkup and it was there that the truth came out.

The very second the news came up, the senior officers of the Nirvana arrived and looked at the information. Cortana herself was sitting on the bed and looking utterly shocked at the information while Catherine was grinning from ear to ear at this.

Mendez then spoke to Catherine.

"Dr. Halsey…is there any possible way that all this data is wrong?"

The woman shook her head and replied.

"The classical symptoms are there already Chief Mendez, and the DNA test confirms it, there's nothing wrong with the information….Cortana is one hundred percent pregnant."

The woman then turned to smile in a very motherly fashion to both Cortana and John.

"Congratulations you two, but that is to be expected since you two have been very close as of late. You two are going to be parents in nine months time, so I guess tha we've got some serious matters to discuss."

In that moment, the Medical Bay was filled by several new faces, Hibiki was there, as well as Jura, Meia, Dita, Fred, Kelly, Linda, the Spartan IIIs, Ezra and Kahlua, Pyoro, Flowing Chapter, and of course the NCOs of the Nirvana Fire Teams. All of them heard the gossip and they were eager to see if it was all true. None of them said anything yet until Jura spoke out.

"Cortana's pregnant?!"

As soon as Magno nodded at that, the women were amazed along with the others, while Kelly joked at the whole thing.

"So I guess that makes all of us Spartans uncles and aunts huh? So when's the baby shower?"

In that moment, John and Cortana blushed bright red and wished that they were anywhere but here!

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That's it….wait for the next chapters!


	10. Chapter 11

VanDread Halo The Second Stage

Disclaimer: I don't work in either Bungie or GONZO, and that means I don't either VanDread or Halo, are we clear?

Chapter 6

Mendez's report

( ): Thoughts

Italic: Computer text

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In the Forward Unto Dawn section of the Nirvana…

Senior Chief Petty Officer Franklin Mendez got up and out of bed at exactly the crack of dawn planet-side at 3 AM and began to spend some time in one handed pushups and then some stretching, once he was done after a solid three hours, he decided to stop and get a quick shower, it was a slow day in the Nirvana at the moment and he didn't have anything to do in the ship that warranted his attention for now, The Spartans were now doubt doing their duties well and things were operating up to standard.

That was enough to make him smile just a bit, he was proud of the Spartans and it made him feel happy that he had trained them well enough to survive anything that was going to the be thrown their way. Though this new war was unlike anything he had been in before, he was still confident that he could still deliver all that he needed to when the situation demanded him to, for now however he decided to update some of his data report.

It was something that he started the very second since he was onboard the Nirvana, it was in his personal console and he had it security locked with a Level Omega clearance password that he knew of and had it locked further with both a retinal scanner lock and finger print scanner, he did the procedure and soon the Console came online and the screen showed a greeting that had his name on it, he grunted and sighed as he decided to review his work and add some new content.

He sat down and began to review the information that he had previously installed into the system and as soon as he was sure that the information was still clear, he began to type in the new data that he had been able to gather.

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'_This is Franklin Mendez, Senior Chief Petty Officer of the United Nations Space Command Marine Corps, currently working as a ranking officer on the former Colony Ship and Tarak battleship the Ikazuchi which has fused with a Megele Cruiser as well as the UNSC Frigate Forward Unto Dawn and is now named the Nirvana. It's been a very interesting time since Dr. Catherine, myself, and the Spartans have entered the portal from the Shield World of Onyx, and landing into a new dimension and a new war no less._

_The whole situation still makes me shake my head, I'm no scientist and physics was not in my schedule of lessons in the Corps, but that doesn't matter to me all that much, I have always focused on the mission that has to be done at all costs and also to make sure that there is no more threat to the UNSC, however, things here in this dimension are different from what I can recall, and it's too long for me to catalogue since I don't know the universe's history, so I can excuse myself for that, in that regard, I'll be focusing on the war we are in now._

_----_

_From what I can piece together, the Earth has suffered from deadly events that have destroyed the planet's ability to be habitable, but the humans left behind have managed to barely survive and build cities in the structures that surround the world, they apparently could no longer have children and couldn't even clone themselves, Dr. Catherine believed that the information in the message pod was accurate and that the conditions had driven them to genetic saturation, and naturally, in this situation, they have gone insane and willing to butcher countless human colonists beyond the Solar System, and unleashed fleets of automated ships to do their dirty work. As of now several habitable systems have been stripped clean of all human life and their once proud homes reduced to wastelands, I've personally seen this myself._

_I'm not really sure what to make of this, it feels….odd to know that the people back on Earth have finally lost it and become our enemies, I feel like I'm back to fighting the Koslovics and the Frieden, and the United Rebel Front again, only this time, instead of fighting to free themselves from their supposed oppressors, or return to Communism and all that, the enemy wants to harvest all the organs of the people for their own use._

_I'm no stranger to brutality, and the things I've seen my fellow humans do to one another, and the horrors the Covenant can and have inflicted on Humanity were horrific, but this….this is something entirely different from what I have seen, I can understand the people of Earth….this dimension's Earth in their desire to live….but this has gone too far. They have already struck hard on the various worlds and have already destroyed a number of civilizations in various systems. _

_The Nirvana had first encountered them in their travels back to the system where the worlds of Tarak and Megele are located, and have been fighting them ever since. They have amazingly fought against a massive force and have succeeded in doing the greatest amount of damage to them in the long years of moving about in space. The Nirvana's crew are not military personnel however, they were pirates mostly, from what I can gather, they were comprised of females from Megele who have grown dissatisfied with their world, and the men in this ship were members of the planet Tarak's military, with the exception of one Hibiki Tokai. The pirates had attempted to raid the Ikazuchi just as the Tarak Fleet discovered the Forward Unto Dawn and John had just awakened in this new world. Apparently there was some device called the Paeksis, a sort of self sustaining power source that seems to have a mind of it's own from what I can see for myself and got rumors of in the scuttlebutt. _

_Before I get any further, I guess I should talk about these two worlds….the first is Megele itself._

_According to the crew and the Captain of the Nirvana, Megele is a lush and verdant __planet and their society seems to be in pursuit of perfection and beauty, and it's population seems to be comprised entirely of women, most men I know would consider that kind of place heaven and would be more than happy to go there and relax. Too bad that the women there happen to have lived for many years in the belief that men are the enemy and are to be killed on site. Reminds me of the Amazon type of women mentioned in all the books and movies that were shown back then in Earth's history, only in this case, this is the real deal. Megele also is not perfect, the women there, at least according to the people I've talked to have been backstabbing and trying to outdo one another ion everything including trivial things like having the best garden wasting resources, manpower, and supplies for those things. They might have high technology, but the things I've seen and heard about tell me otherwise. Their soldiers are professional and most of their technology is cutting edge by UNSC standards, but they have no prior experience outside of their world, this was proven true since they had fought the Harvesters on the surface of one of the planets that we had been on before and in this situation, their technology nearly failed them._

_As far as I can piece together, Megele women rely heavily on technology and machinery in order to make due in their world. They are willing to help others in the limelight, but when things turn bad, they don't hesitate to take advantage of it either. I had heard of the time__ that the elderly leader of this pirate group lost her home due to the fact someone in the higher echelons of society needed more to impress the others, serious waste of resources to me, and anyone else in the UNSC, kicking people out of their own homes is a serious crime in any case, even more so when it merely is done for one's own status._

_Tarak on the other hand is the polar opposite of Megele and is a desert world and is harsh to the core, from what I was able to gain from the men from their world, it's cities are build in canyons and fissures to avoid the sand storms, wind and more and to gather more water and resources, the men's cities geared towards mass production, industry, and warfare, not a bad place in the eyes of a career soldier. There is limited food, water, and space, and the predators on the surface are nasty according to the men here on the Nirvana, and from what I have learned, those predators are certainly ones to watch out for s far as I can see. This planet demands the best out of it's people, and it's merciless to the core, one mistake and you can die out there._

_However, this breeds good soldiers, the men are at the peak of human health, surviv__al skills and practicality. They focus on learning everything until they could do things with little to no difficulty, similar to communism in some respects, but it's fitting considering the scarcity of resources and the dangers their world holds. The men are spartan in their living conditions, no frills and focusing only on the bare essentials and wasting little resources, similar to how John and his fellow Spartans were on Reach, of course, Reach was the same as Megele in terms of environment and greenery. They can produce ships, weapons, technology at a scale which maximizes resources and cuts down waste management by three quarters, quite impressive and certainly respectable._

_Of course, it's a planet that has only men so the majority of the UNSC Marines would have avoided this place like a plague, that and the fact that the men see women as monsters and savages who eat their livers and inner organs. When I heard that, I was trying to picture it all and it's not a pretty picture, and their versions of R&R leave a LOT to be desired. They also have a class system, the First being the elite and get the best of everything, the Second Class who are the proverbial middle men, the Third Class, the menial workers and laborers._

_These planets and their cultures are certainly going to be a new sight for me once we get there, no matter, I'm working with the pirates so I have to live with that and while I would be very much be subjected to a serious court martial back in the UNSC for this, I don't have much choice, at least the pirates have their heads on straight and their actions have given hope to the people in this side of the deck. _

_As for the crew__ of the Nirvana, I have decided to use the UNSC ranks and designation factors of the military so it's better to know the crew, I have to admit that despite being civilians, these women and men have proven themselves to be very capable when the pressure was on. In my humble opinion, these people would have made good members of the UNSCDF and would have made a difference, however small if they fought with the Covenant with the kind of technology and weapons they had with them. _

_I'll start first with the officers of the crew and work from there._

--------

Mendez then checked the data to be sure as he wrote in some more of the information.

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_Magno Vivian_

_Rank i__n the UNSC Navy: Admiral_

_Rank on the Nirvana: Captain._

_She's a very old but still vibrant woman and cares deeply for her crew, good leadership skills and acts more like a grandmother to the rest of her crew, something that is respectable in some cases. She's kind to the crew but knows when to get serious and get into the heat of things. Apparently she's considered one of the First Generation which might explain why she seems to tolerate the men onboard, though from what I can gather from John, she had teased the men from Tarak just to gauge their reactions._

_She has a great deal of respect for John and Cortana and no wonder, since John has become their foremost leader in defending the Nirvana from boarding attempts and leading ground assaults on planets, and Cortana serving as the oper__ator of the ship's weapon systems that were derived from the Forward Unto Dawn and also serves to fly the Longswords into battle. Despite this, I worry about her health since she does suffer chest pains and occasional back pain, which these symptoms are possibly due to her age, I think there are some conditions that have to be addressed soon. According to the data, she had formed the pirates out of necessity and the desire to be free of the back stabbing and attitude of the women and government there. Not that it's wrong as her motives make sense, it was those pursuit of trivial things and wasteful use of resources that let her home be stripped of power after all. Unlike the Insurrectionists who use terrorist tactics, at least her pirates do not kill men on site and leave survivors._

_All in all, she is a good leader, might even come close to Admiral Preston Jeremiah Cole himself in this sense._

_--------_

_Buzam A Calessa 'BC'_

_Rank in the UNSC Navy__: Captain _

_Rank on the Nirvana: Commander_

_Buzam is a skilled XO and is more military in her actions, this tells me that she's a former career military officer, though there's no information of her occupation before joining the pirates, she's got the look of a skilled soldier and officer and tries to discipline the crew every now and then when the situations seems to merit in her mind, despite this, she is respected in the ship by the crew and despite not sharing the same opinions of her captain, is loyal to the core._

_The Nirvana's helmsman, Bart Garsus seems to have a thing for BC, from what I can see and what I can learn from John and Cortana, not sure how that might turn out. But I do have some worries about her. _

_Something about her tells me she's hiding something, she's a valued member of the crew and is as tough as anyone I've seen, but I feel something off about BC, I have been in many Black Ops missions and more conventional battles in my career before I trained John and the Spartans as well as Kurt's own Spartans back on Onyx, so I trust my instincts and training, and they tell me that something about her is wrong. But until I get some more evidence to prove my theory, then she's all right in my book._

_--------_

_Gascogne Rheingau_

_Rank i__n the UNSC Navy: Commander _

_Rank on the Nirvana: Supply Officer_

_Gascogne serves as head supplier on the Nirvana and happens to be quite capable an officer, she rides her girls hard but is not a ruthless person, she does what she knows is right and cares for those under her command, good marks for an officer. Her followers on the Nirvana respect her a great deal though she has issues with the use of the word Gasco, the shorter term of her name. From what I understand of it, she's cool under pressure, does what is needed without asking too many questions that would only consume time and energy. Good train of thought that one and she's got some mean card playing skills._

_At any rate, she seems to have gotten this attitude due to some tragedy that I have yet to determine the cause of, she's make an excellent NCO back in the UNSC._

_--------_

_Parfait Balblair_

_Rank__ the UNSC Marine Corps, Engineers: Major_

_Rank on the Nirvana: Chief Engineer_

_Parfait's one plucky engineer, she's got the whole gear head thing going for her and she's quite knowledgeable in Megele Technology and she seems to have taken quite an interest in UNSC Technology and is happy to work alongside Dr. Halsey herself in studying the concept of Power Armor and also the large amount of Forerunner technology we salvaged recently. She's got a great deal of intellect and curiosity that seems to have impressed Dr. Catherine well enough. From what I can piece together, she's an engineering genius and also quite tolerant of many things as she seems to be all right working with the men as she seems to be in a very cordial relationship with one Duero McFile, the resident medic of the ship._

_It seems friendly enough, though I think I am getting hints of a more romantic relationship in the near future._

_She seems to be tasked in keeping the Paeksis in good working order for as long as possible though the idea of her treating the thing like a living thing along with other machinery makes me a bit worried, but they always said some geniuses are eccentric. At the moment, she's chatting with both Dr. Halsey and that Forerunner AI Flowing Chapter and had been working nonstop since the whole incident of discovering the Dreadnaught. She's taken quite an interest with Flowing Chapter as well as Pyoro. Not surprising since it's an Alien AI of all things…_

_All in all, she is quite capable and her naturally cheerful spirit would help boost morale, something the engineers back home would have loved to have._

_--------_

_Paiway Underberg_

_Rank in the UNSC Medical Corps: Private 1__st__ Class_

_Rank in the Nirvana: Nurse_

_Hard to believe they let an eleven year old child be a medic on a ship like this one, what sort of parents in their right minds sends their daughter to work in such a post as dangerous as a nurse? Not to mention the uniform easily resembles the kind a French Maid would wear, on a normal aged woman it would be very nice and tempting, but on an eleven year old girl….leaves a lot to be desired, though if given a few years, she might fit in well enough. If anyone back in the UNSC saw this, they would start talking about child labor laws and decency. Still, Paiway's got a good mind and is quite able to serve as nurse, though she might need a few more years to get all the experience in being a healer. Got to admit that she's not all that innocent and gullible as she has managed to keep things together, considering the fact that she's still serving as nurse despite seeing the horrors of combat._

_At the moment, she is working with Duero, who's a very skilled medic in his own right and more seasoned than she is, I can only hope that she can control herself when the real fighting starts. Another thing is her curiosity and desire to learn all the things she can, the good news is that Cortana toned that part down at the very least._

_Still, I have locked down this system to keep her from getting too curious about things, despite her growing experience and skills, she still is quite young._

_--------_

_Meia Gisborn_

_Rank in the UNSC __Navy: Fleet Master Chief Petty Officer _

_Rank in the Nirvana: Dread Squadron Leader_

_Meia Gisborn's got some good piloting skills, better than some of the pilots' I've seen, according to John, he would trust her to lead the Fire Teams if it came to airborne engagements, and I have to agree with John in that regard, she's got skills and according to Tom, she's not bad with a gun either in hand. As far as I can figure, she used to be the daughter of some scientist group and was very much something of a celebrity, but when things went downhill, she was forced to live on her own in the streets and her parents were gone, She lived on the streets all her growing up years as a punk and then was taken in by Magno to become their Dread Squadron Leader. However, despite her skills in a Dread, her skills in Vanguard combat operations is below the standard, due to her claustrophobia which was due to her childhood experiences. This is offset by the fact that her Dread has undergone extensive changes and forms one of the VanDreads used by the pirates. This fusion of her Dread and that of Hibiki's own enhanced Vanguard favors speed and direct attacks, and is the most agile of all the VanDreads, a critical advantage that the pirates bank on when speed and agility are a must in battle._

_She used to have issues with working with men, no doubt with all the things her world showed about men in general, but as of now is in a professional relationship founded on respect, especially towards John._

_If she had been born in our dimension, she very well would have been an ace in the war and given the Covenant a run for their credits, or would have been a Spartan alongside the others, though the blue hair might have been a bit much. _

_--------_

_Jura Basil Elden_

_Rank in the UNSC Navy: Command Master Chief Petty Officer_

_Rank in the Nirvana: Dread Squadron Second In Command_

_I'll say this much about Jura, she's got the looks and the body that most models back on Earth would kill for and she would be one heck of a poster girl for the UNSC Navy if she enlisted. She's not all looks though; she does have considerable piloting skills and is able to show her own level of talent when it is needed and is not a bad leader in her own right. I can wager a bet that any man in the UNSC, military or otherwise would gladly pay a whole year's salary to get a date with her and do other things as well._

_She seems to have this rather odd desire to be a mother and I know that any man worth his manhood would jump at the chance be with her__. She however has her sights set on Hibiki for the time being and I have to give the young man credit for not jumping the gun and getting down to it, even if he has been raised by his people to see women as monsters, he seems to be a bit of the exception as he is trying to resist her advances, something that I have to give him credit for as well._

_This is due to the fact that most men would have willingly dropped their pants at the sight of the blonde woman, and all she would say is she wants a baby and the men would be more than willing to go along with it, though I have a feeling that since she knows nothing of how men and women procreate due to being raised on an all female world, it would be interesting to say the very least._

_Though she is friends with Dita, her fellow Dread pilot, there is a rivalry going on when it concerns Hibiki, and that is further fueled by Misty Cornwell's interest on said youth. Her Dread is also able to merge with Hibiki's Vanguard, forming a defensive machine that is quite an impressive weapon. I have never seen a shield system like it since it can shield things all the way to a planet in battle, if the UNSC techs figured out how to design something like that, along with the spooks in ONI__, then the UNSC would have a tremendous advantage in shield technology._

_All in all, she's capable and skilled despite being vain and flighty at times.__ Her friendship with her fellow Dread pilot Barnette Orangello is easy to see…though considering the fact that they sometimes kiss, and they come from an all female planet, I can bet that their friendship is not the platonic kind, considering the fact that Barnette herself is quite attractive, I can bet a lot of men would love to try to get the both of them at the same time._

_--------_

_Dita Liebely_

_Rank in the UNSC Navy__: Ensign_

_Rank in the Nirvana: Apprentice Dread Pilot_

_Bubbly, sweet, kind hearted, open minded, and very compassionate….those are among the things describe Dita well in most cases, she is a bit naïve and something of an air head on occasion, but like most people she does have a very perceptive side and is smart in other matters. Despite her youth, being only sixteen and her attitude, she has good skills as a pilot and is quite able to hold her own when the situation calls for it. That, her very pretty looks and her cooking skills make her quite a woman in the eyes of most men who know women well enough._

_She has a very open relationship with Hibiki, apparently something of a curiosity between the two sides due to the one hundred years of separation. She seems to enjoy hanging out with the said young man and doing things to make him happy, cooking food for him, trying to cheer him up whenever he gets down and the like. I can easily see a relationship blossom here, given the fact that she has recently become very protective of him as of late, fending off Jura and Misty as well. _

_One would have to be dumb, deaf, and blind not to see the affection she has for the young man and this is yet another reason that I have to give the young man credit for keeping his pants on, any young man in his place would have willingly taken advantage of such an impressionable woman like Dita…though is it because of his own affection for her is up for debate since he is still somewhat clueless about how to be with women._

_Her Dread is also able to fuse with Hibiki's Vanguard to create a VanDread, this one model is effective in both close combat and long range due to it's cannons and forearm blades. I have seen the cannons in action in both videos and in person and I have to admit that it is quite an impressive sight. This is why they are usually working together in missions that require superior fire power._

_--------_

_Barnette Orangello_

_Rank in the UNSC __Navy: Chief Petty officer_

_Rank in the Nirvana: Dread pilot_

_Barnette's a bit of the rough and aggressive side, however I have no doubts about her piloting skills in both Dreads and Vanguards. She still follows the way Megele views men though she had developed a good deal of respect towards men for the past many months working with them in fighting the Harvesters. She didn't take too well with the men being integrated into the crew but she has changed in that regard and despite not fully trusting the men on the ship, she is able to work with them._

_I have to admit that her gun collection has gotten my interest, it's been a while since I have seen an M60 since the last one I saw was in a museum. It's odd since her fellow women seem to have a love for energy weapons but I'll give her this much, she's got some serious weapons that were key in the Mission station a few months back._

_--------_

_Misty Cornwell_

_Rank in the UNSC Navy__: Civilian consultant_

_Rank in the Nirvana: Apprentice Communications and Navigation operator (ongoing training)_

_Not much to say about Misty, she seems to be from a colony of men and women near or in the Earth's solar system so she's not in the dark about men and women. She seems to have taken a shine to Hibiki, much to Dita's chagrin and to Jura's ire. According to Dr. Catherine, Misty is doing this as a way to find some sense of normalcy in her new found environment, and chasing a young man who happens to be quite a good catch despite his slowly disappearing distrust of women._

_I can't blame Misty for that, considering her situation here on the Nirvana, though I hope that she is able to find a way to place all that aside soon, there's no telling what might happen if this keeps up anyway. However, she happens to have a degree in communications and navigational planning so she's been assigned as Ezra's replacement when the bridge officer in question is on maternity leave to care for her daughter._

_--------_

_Ezra Vi__eil_

_Rank in the UNSC Navy__: Unknown_

_Rank in the Nirvana: Bridge operator_

_Ezra happens to be the kind of woman one associates with the image of a model housewife, she is kind, passionate, gentle, skilled in many things that a housewife does in her free time. She is a very positive influence to the crew and is very much an important part of the Nirvana, she also happens to be something of a mother figure to Hibiki as well as being a mother figure to Dita as well, she was a Fahma, a term given to the woman in a Megele couple who would carry their daughter to term._

_She had given birth to her daughter Kahlua during a fierce battle where the ship had been disabled by a security virus that was in a message pod when we found Misty, the crew care for her and Kahlua and it seems that the Spartan IIIs have taken a shine to the little baby and so has she to them. I worry about her and her baby due to the dangers we are facing __and it's good to know that she is given enough time to care for her daughter. I have no idea who's Ezra's significant other at the moment, Ezra plans to raise her daughter well enough to show her to her 'father' or in Megele terms, Kahlua's Ohma. Speaking of the little bundle of joy for Ezra, as she is a baby, she has no rank in my mind._

_--------_

_Amarone Slaintheav_

_Rank in the UNSC Navy__: Ensign_

_Rank in the Nirvana: Bridge Operator_

_She happens to form the group that serves the bridge and is quite an able operator in many respects ,I don't have a lot to say about her since I do not have much on her personal life, however, she is quite capable and has managed to look on a more favorable light on relationships between men and women. She is best friends with the other bridge operators apart from Ezra and those are Celtic Midori and Belvedere Coco._

_--------_

_Celtic Midori_

_Rank in the UNSC Navy: __Ensign_

_Rank in the Nirvana: Bridge Operator_

_She happens to be the one who used to be against the cooperation between men and women, to the point she used to wear costumes, but at least she has managed to finally accept working with men and has begun to shed them, but she's been changing clothing every time, it's a certified guarantee that she will not wear the same uniform the next day._

_I get the feeling she has thing for costumes, like that Japanese term….what was that again? Oh yeah, the term was Otaku. At any rate, she does her duty well and I hope that she will be more comfortable around men soon enough._

_--------_

_Belvedere Coco_

_Rank in the UNSC Navy: Ensign_

_Rank in the Nirvana; Bridge Operator_

_Belvedere happens to be quite capable as a bridge operator on the Nirvana, she is friends with the rest of the bridge crew and seems to have a friendly relationship with Ezra __and the others. So far she too has gotten used to working with men and I hope that it remains that way for as long as possible while we make out way to the home system that had Tarak and Megele._

_--------_

_Kara Hilden_

_Rank in the UNSC Marine Corps:__ Staff Sergeant_

_Rank in the Nirvana: Fire Team Leader_

_Kara's got a good grasp of tactics and leads her team well, she would make an excellent soldier and leader and considering the data I saw through her recorders, she would make an excellent UNSC Marine field officer. The fact that she and her fellow Fire Team leaders and members treat the Master Chief as a father figure as well as their commanding officer tells me that they were more than ready and willing to do what they could in order to protect him and their comrades in battle. She and her team have already gotten plenty of experience in both ship combat and ground operations and as such, they have been key to the battle that we are in at this time. _

_She's an all around leader though her team favors assault tactics more._

_--------_

_Rena Yugami_

_Rank in the UNSC Marine Corps:__ Staff Sergeant_

_Rank in the Nirvana: Fire Team Leader_

_I can apply most of what I said about __Kara can apply to everyone of the leaders of the Fire Teams here on the Nirvana, she's loyal to her fellow women, her Fire team and to John as well, so I have no doubts in my mind that she will be quite an ally in the still ongoing fight with the Harvester forces, her own combat records tell me that she is more than able to handle herself well enough though like the others in the Fire Teams as well as her own team, she has her fair share of injuries at this point and thankfully she has developed an ability to survive them._

_Rena and her team happen to be fairly balanced in battle as well as being good drivers of the various vehicles that we have on the ship. _

_--------_

_Hilda Sera_

_Rank in the UNSC Marine Corps:__ Staff Sergeant_

_Rank in the Nirvana: Fire Team Leader_

_Hilda and her team show great loyalty to the Nirvana crew, each other, and of course John as well, and she is more than able to hold her own in battle. Their skills are good and according to the data that I have gathered, she and her team happen to have a certain affinity to using long range weapons in battle and are proven to be skilled marksmen, or in this case, markswomen__. _

_They don't come close to Linda of course as well as some of the other Marine and Army Sharpshooters, but their skills are naturally vital in turning the tide in battle. _

_--------_

_Sheena Conrad_

_Rank in the UNSC Marine Corps:__ Staff Sergeant_

_Rank in the Nirvana: Fire Team Leader_

_Sheena and her team are quite skilled in being a flexible rifle group and also skilled in close quarters combat and therefore are capable in urban combat environments, they also have some very good skills in the use of explosives, those are excellent skills in combat in any environment that they will be finding themselves in. They would make the grade as marine Fire Team__ and their demolition skills, while not the best I've seen, certainly come close._

_--------_

_Carla Sandrel_

_Rank in the UNSC Marine Corps:__ Staff Sergeant_

_Rank in the Nirvana: Fire Team Leader_

_Carla and her team are also excellent shooters in both long range with the Sniper weapons we have on hand and also in close combat and are able to switch roles in battle, something that is considered a key ability in all soldiers__ regardless of their branch affiliation, Carla and her team have begun to adapt their skills well, and the growing experience is key for their survival, though I think that they need to learn other skills to fit them into any battle that they will soon be in._

_So far however, they are doing well in their key mission roles, and I hope that remains that way._

_--------_

_Fiona Marlene_

_Rank in the UNSC Marine Corps:__ Staff Sergeant _

_Rank in the Nirvana: Fire Team Leader_

_Fiona and her own Fire Team are gifted with balanced skills, but their real skills is with the use of heavy weapons such as the M41 SSR MAV/AW Rocket Launcher or the Spanker for us leather necks. This gives them the key role of being the anti tank forces as well as engaging air forces when they need to. As far as the data goes, their skills__ in using heavy weapons is fairly balanced, and that is a good thing, heavy weapons are vital in battle, but getting used to relying on them is a serious mistake so I hope that they were able to be generalists in battle, this is a key trait in battle, though considering their growing skills are proving to be key in the battle._

_--------_

_That's about it for the women on the Nirvana, and now we deal with the men…_

_Duero McFile_

_Rank in the UNSC Medical Corps: Master Sergeant_

_Rank in the Nirvana: Chief Medical Officer_

_This Duero is one heck of a hacksaw, he's got high aptitude scores and is quite the skilled operator, he's kept his cool in the worst of things and does his duties without making a mistake or missing a beat. He'd make a fine field combat medic as he has all the skills and experience as well as the ability to adapt to any situation. I had thought that since he has only seen male bodies in his medical career, he would have some difficulty with female bodies, but he's adapted well enough and hasn't embarrassed himself in some fashion when doing physical checkups on the Nirvana's nearly all women crew._

_As far as I can figure, he had left his position blank in his papers and as such, he would be able to take any position he wanted, and considering how he treats the patients he has on the Nirvana, he has found his calling though I can bet he's just as good a soldier and pilot of Vanguards if he was being serious about it. I can tell that he's got military training since it's a requirement on his home world, couple that with his intellect and abilities, he would make an excellent soldier._

_He's not like the other men since he seems to be all right with working alongside women and happens to be in a relationship with our head engineer, they both fit well together in their friendship, both are smart, very curious, open minded, and are able to relax in each others presence, even if Duero happens to be much taller and younger than Parfait. At the moment the relationship in question is strictly platonic but I have no problems seeing it become something more._

_--------  
_

_Bart Garsus_

_Rank in the UNSC Navy: Petty Officer 2__nd__ Class_

_Rank in the Nirvana: Chief Navigator and Helmsman, Energy Weapons Officer_

_Bart grew up in a family that produces Tarak's nutrient food pill supplies and got drafted into the Tarak Navy through political connections, not the most interesting enlistment stories in my mind. He was cowardly and something of a sneak, but has his heart in the right place and due to some quirks when the ships were reformed, is the only person capable of piloting the ship in any direction than forward. He now controls the plasma cannon systems as well and is becoming something of a crack shot as well with those weapons so that makes him twice as vital since Cortana can't use those cannons, nor can she control the Nirvana as of yet. _

_He used to be a coward until befriending a little girl named Shirley on our mission to help__ her people, he was quite close to her and when she died, tragic loss that one, he was nearly brought to tears, only John managed to get him out of that mess and he's grown a good deal. In honor of his friendship with the young girl and her vow to never let it happen to others, he shaved his hair on his head. Don't get me wrong, there's a reason as Shirley made a doll of him before she died and she never got to place hair there on the top. Bart still carries that doll and treasures it greatly, and I have to respect that, in a way, the kid cares for the doll in the same way John cares for that coin he got._

_Speaking of which, as I have mentioned before, Bart seems to have a thing for the XO on the ship, Buzam, I have to give him gust to be trying to get intimate with said woman though I still have my doubts on Buzam at the moment. Either way, that is his business so let him worry about that._

_--------  
_

_Hibiki Tokai_

_Rank in the UNSC Marine Corps: Master Gunnery Sergeant_

_Rank in the Nirvana: Vanguard pilot_

_I might be taking my ranking a bit high on this kid, but he's certainly got promise and is developing quite nicely on his own pace. He's a Third Class Citizen and a factory worker as well as a mechanic back on Tarak. From what I understand of this young man, he was very much a malcontent person towards the way his world works, not a full blown rebel like the ones who are part of the United Rebel Front or the URF, but just wanting to see if there was more to life. I wonder if he had any idea that his desire for something better would land him in all this? Despite the fact that he is a civilian, the fact that he knows Vanguards gives him the ability to learn how to pilot Vanguards well, and he has quite the advantage of having John as his teacher._

_I can tell that he will make a fine UNSC Marine if given time and training, and considering the fact that John treats him with high regard as well as support him shows that he has talents and potential to be a skilled soldier. He used to be quite the hothead and dislikes working with teams, but John seems to have straightened him out and at times he serves as the man to go to when it comes to Vanguard maintenance, due to his on field experience and his own time spent working on his Vanguard and that gives him good insight in mecha usage. The boy's combat skills are good in person as well, considering the fact that John is his teacher._

_His Vanguard is also different and it is able to merge with the Dreads of Jura, Dita, and Meia to create the VanDreads, these units are key in space battles and as such, they are the ones relied on in battles in deep space, this makes Hibiki a key asset in battle to keeping him alive is key for most battles, but at least he can pull his own weight and despite his Vanguard __being limited to close combat tactics, he is proving to be quite adept in using a lot of things to his advantage, though I still recommend that we get his Vanguard some ranged combat options_

_Another thing that makes me have to give this kid credit is the fact that he's the current object of interest by two of the Dread pilots and one young girl who knows about how men and women lived together. The two Dread pilots are Dita and Jura, and the younger girl is Misty Cornwell as well, most men I know would have called the young kid a lucky bastard and some would be amused by how he has managed to keep his pants on, only Misty knows the truth about men and women and therefore I have no doubt she knows about how men and women, if that ever comes out…that's one image I know would scare the hell out of the men and the women too._

_Here's hoping that he learns how to be responsible if it ever happens._

_--------_

_As for the rest of the crew, namely the Talvernians, I have little data to show about the key personnel that lead their group, but they are quite capable and the fact that they use energy weapons makes them quite capable soldiers__ and the fact that unlike the crew, they were all professional military soldiers before they joined the crew. As of this moment, I know that they are capable and are loyal to helping the Nirvana and it's crew, the one thing that bothers me is why they didn't stay with their people._

_Granted their help has been key and we need all the hands we can get in fighting the Harvesters, but still, they should have been there to protect their people from the Harvesters. Here's hoping that they do not regret this decision while they are here on the ship. The good things about having them is that they help show to the crew of the Nirvana that living with the opposite gender is possible, they can use their own expertise to help plan for combat strategies, and their technology is a perfect addition to the ever growing arsenal of the Nirvana._

_This is it for now, I'll make more updates soon once new events occur that deserve mention._

_SCPO Franklin Mendez…. _

_--------_

As he was finished, the Senior Chief Petty Officer locked the computer down and directed himself out into the rest of the ship and see just what was going on with the rest of the crew, and afterward, he would be able to get some much needed food, Once he was out of his room, he looked about and spotted Cortana and John walking together and he was quickly able to notice something different in the way the two were interacting with one another, he raised an eyebrow a bit at this and decided to have a chat with Dr. Halsey and find out if anything happened between the Master Chief and Cortana.

--------

As for the couple in question…

As they turned the corner, the former UNSC AI sighed and rested her head on John's arm and the Spartan noted that as he still had his helmet on and spoke to her gently, using a different tone of voice when he was speaking to the woman he had just lost his virginity to.

"You all right?"

Cortana nodded and replied.

"I was just thinking…."

"About what?"

The woman looked at Spartan and told him the answer to that particular question.

"About what would happen when I finally have a baby, I have to admit that….it kind of makes me very nervous."

Even if he had his helmet on and he was still very much the consummate professional, the Spartan blushed a bit as he felt different around Cortana due to what they had done before, he had to admit that the idea of him being a father was something that he had no idea about and to make things worse for him, was the fact that he had no one to talk to about such things. However he knew that now was not the right time to think about it and spoke to Cortana.

"If it makes you feel any better, I feel the same way too, only difference is, I'm willing to take the chance."

The woman smiled at that and she hugged the Spartan, as soon as she moved away she spoke to the Spartan in a very conversational tone.

"Do you have anything serious to do today?"

John thought about that, at the moment, he had only to check on his fellow Spartans, review tactical data with the rest of his Fire Teams, report the latest data with the other officers in the Nirvana, get some training into his, and have his annual physical with Duero and Dr. Catherine. Just the run of the mill kind of thins that he usually did for routine.

"Not much, just the usual for the time being, why do you ask?"

Cortana grinned and replied.

"I think all that can wait John, we're not under attack for the moment so we have some time to relax, and I am in the mood to have some more quality time with you."

John was not clueless this time around and already had a very good idea what was cooking in Cortana's mind and he removed his helmet with a quick snap and hiss as the seals removed themselves and he was now cradling his helmet and he looked at Cortana and from the seductive smirk on her face as well as slight blush, and the gleam in her eyes, he had a feeling that she saw the same blush on his face that told her that he was interested.

He however was quick to speak to her and see if she was really serious about what she had in mind.

"Are you sure about this Cortana?"

The woman nodded and quickly looked for a room and spotted one, she dragged the Spartan into the room and spoke to him as she managed to find a nearby couch and quickly accessed the control panel and locked out the room from the Nirvana's security network feed and placed a secure password on the door to lock it down. Once that was done she looked at John and replied as she slowly began to walk over to the Spartan and slowly removing her clothes, starting with her working gloves while moving in a very sexy stride that was quick to grab the Master Chief's attention.

"Oh yes I am. Besides, I'm FULLY rested and I plan to see just how much your augmentations can handle from me today. Shall we find out how long you last John?"

That was enough to make John reply with a slight smile.

"You're on."

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An hour or so later…

Duero was confused as he looked at the chronometer on his computer as Paiway came with the latest reports as well as a tray of medication to be used for the annual crew health physical while Dr. Catherine was busy running through some information with her personal AI Jerrod. Paiway then looked at Duero and asked what seemed to be bothering him.

"You okay Duero? You seem to be lost in thought or something."

Duero shook his head and replied with a slight sigh.

"I'm fine, though I am concerned about the Master Chief, I know that with his augmentations he is not easily subject to sickness, but it's already been an hour or two since he was supposed to arrive for his medical check up."

Paiway then smiled and took out her frog puppet and spoke in her funny voice.

"Maybe he found something interesting to do doctor, kero!"

Dr. Catherine heard that and laughed a bit, and she couldn't help but reply to that.

"I think he'll be fine, no doubt Cortana is with him helping him get his physical."

That made Duero curious and Paiway was also curious at that and the young Tarak medic asked the UNSC scientist something.

"Is Cortana qualified to give the Master Chief a full physical?"

Catherine smirked at that replied.

"Oh yes she is, in fact, it's going to be an interesting physical for him, and for her as well."

Paiway then spoke to Catherine with a curious tone.

"How interesting can it be for Cortana and the Chief?"

Catherine smiled even more and replied.

"VERY interesting, and before you ask, I'm sorry but that's between the two of them."

Paiway sighed and pouted at that. She wanted to know just what sort of physical checkup was Cortana giving the Spartan, and the same thing was on Duero's face. All the while Catherine merely smirked and that didn't fade even as Mendez arrived on the scene.

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To be continued…

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Author's Notes:

That ends this chapter, this might seem like a waste to some readers, but this is a good way to see how the crew of the Nirvana are rated if they were in the UNSC Universe. As for Cortana and John, looks like Cortana is in the mood for more.

I can bet that with his augmentations, the Master Chief is going to be the ONLY one Cortana will be intimate with, and of course, we're going to have some interesting things happen to the other crew members soon enough. If you think it will only be John who will discover the joys of doing the deed with the opposite sex, then you are wrong.

See you on the next chapter!


	11. Chapter 12

VanDread Halo The Second Stage

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to VanDread or Halo at all…

Chapter 7

Mother's Day…

( ): Thoughts

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In the Nirvana's Engineering Bay…

"I see…so that is how it works?"

Parfait was currently chatting with none other than Flowing Chapter as the floating Forerunner Military A.I was showing her just what was she looking at in terms of the data, as she was busy studying the technology of Flowing Chapter's creators. The plucky head engineer had been eager to study all that she could manage to in relation to the technology of the Forerunners when they had gotten the information as well as the devices that they were able to salvage from the ruins of their ship. And she was naturally happy to look at all they had created though naturally she needed help in translation.

"Correct Reclaimer, this device is able to function as a portable power supply unit that can work on most devices."

Right now, the two were busy on their newest tests to see if Forerunner technology could be utilized into the current technology that they had in terms of both the Tarak technology they had as well as the of Megele and the UNSC's. So far Flowing Chapter had been a great help in field testing several devices and also helped in perfecting a few kinks in the Covenant weapons that Cortana had with them, this was certainly useful to the crew as this would help them in battle at a much later date. Parfait was also interested in the possibility of introducing Forerunner technology into her Power Armor creations though she knew that by Forerunner standards, her creations were not yet up to specifications that would count in their eyes as adequate Power Armors.

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In the rest of the ship, life seemed normal, but there were a lot of changes going on already, this one was naturally directed at parts of the Nirvana's crew, the first of which was the Dread Pilots. They were currently getting some field training on how to operate weapons in battle as well as now wearing armor to protect them. This was requested by Meia herself, citing her experience during the attack that had been due to the virus that was in the message pod that was in Misty's capsule, having experienced what would happen if they were unable to move and fight, she decided to have the Dread pilots receive upgrades in their uniforms and weapons training on the off chance that they would be forced to fight in such a situation as she did.

Naturally there was some resistance from her fellow Dread pilots, Jura, Barnette, and Dita included, however, she didn't need to get too serious as they got the reasons behind her plans. She contacted the Chief about this and John agreed that the pirates needed their pilots to be properly trained in order to be ready for anything that might crop up. This was why he decided to have Cortana and Parfait make some new gear for the pilots.

The gear in question was a slight fusion of the basic Marine Body Armor and that of the ODST Battle Uniform that she had been able to make, by cutting away some of the lesser functions of the ODST gear and increasing some parts, the hybrid uniforms proved to be effective as it still granted full body movement without restrictions and had better protection from shrapnel, small arms fire, heat, and energy fire.

Like the ODST uniform, this new Megele uniform was vacuum sealed and had a portable air supply for at least a full hour and a half due to Cortana and Parfait's tinkering with the designs, the backpack was removed and a new software package removed the older one in order to accommodate a new one that was able to work with their Dread's OS. Naturally they had to smoothen the plating to suit the women's preference and the women preferred to show that they were women in form so the suits had a more female shape. The helmet was still the same though it had been toned down to have a more defensive nature and didn't have the VISR options as they Dread pilots relied on their Dread's scanner systems, which was why the helmet was given a higher protection level and the uniform also had some protection for the neck to prevent them from being cut in such a vital area. There were naturally built in packs to carry supplies and ammunition within easy reach so they didn't need to worry too much about that.

The features from the Marine Body Armor naturally included the inner ballistic resistant gel system and temperature regulator network for pilot comfort, protection from heat, and also to disperse energy from a glancing blow of energy. There was also a special locator beacon in the suit to help locate them if they were somehow out of their Dreads for quicker pickup. The plating also was given a coating of the ablative substance for a light yet strong layer of extra protection. The suit also was improved to the point that it was not uncomfortable as the ODST version as both Cortana and Parfait incorporated Megele technology into them as well.

The result was promising and the suits were naturally personalized by the Dread pilots to suit their tastes, they had to admit that while it took a while to adjust to the new feeling of their suits, they were surprised to the comfort level and were impressed somewhat when the uniforms were tested by the engineers for physical damage resistance. They also found that while it took some extra time to use their controls due to the uniform, that didn't last long as they were able to do so well enough to still show their edge in battle.

The time for weapons training was a bit more interesting as the Talvernian men were more than willing to help train the Dread pilots in the use of their new gear that Meia had in mind, at first it seemed to be all right as the Spartans were very busy at the moment and the Fire Teams were on a weeklong rest. The weapons included the Combat Knife, Covenant Plasma Pistol, the M6G Magnum, and the two SMGs, the M7 and the M7S as these were easy to carry and were ideal for vehicle crews as per the use of the UNSC. But after a few weeks, Meia decided that it would be better that they were trained by the more experienced members of the Nirvana's Fire Teams due to some incidents, none of which were bad in a literal sense, but had been…confusing.

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"Okay, you need to place your weapon's stock on your shoulder to counter the recoil of the weapon."

"Like this?"

One Dread pilot wearing her older outfit did the posture while one of the men looked on to see if she was doing it right, The man however couldn't help but admire the woman's full form and that was not unnoticed by the woman as she spoke.

"Hey!"

The soldier, one dark haired and slightly blushing youth by the name of Harry Kirkland then looked and replied.

"Yeah?"

"Why are you looking at my breasts like that?!"

"Uh….they just look nice even with the padding on."

"Oh…"

Rica Flores, the Dread pilot in question couldn't help but feel a bit unnerved by the way her trainer was looking at her breasts, they were not that big in her mind but they way he was looking was making her feel something that was not bad, yet odd and familiar at the same time.

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Naturally she was not the only one…

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Jane Randal, yet another Dread pilot and a blonde like Jura though with short shoulder length hair and wearing her older Dread uniform was currently trying to handle the recoil of her Magnum with her trainer, one blonde man by the name James Derrick, he moved towards her and check her grip and moved to correct that.

"All right, you need to adjust your grip like so and try to relax…"

"Okay."

Jane did that but the fact that James was still close to her made her aware of his facial features which were rather interesting as she suddenly felt her body temperature climb up a notch or so, this however made her a lot more tense and that was quickly noticed by the man who turned to look at her.

"Hey, you all right?"

Jane suddenly felt her body temperature rise as she looked at James' face and saw his blue eyes, she had seen blue eyes before but on a man, it felt very different, and she then wondered why her eyes were moving to her trainer's lips.

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Another Dread pilot by the name of Amanda Lacey was currently in training with her own M7S with her Talvernian trainer, a brown haired youth by the name of Franklin Conner. The two of them were in the firing range as Amanda was currently trying to hit the target but was missing her shots by half and Franklin sighed a bit and moved closer behind her to correct her posture.

"Okay, I need you to relax and take slow breaths and loosen your stance a bit, if you tense up like that, you might miss more."

"All right…"

The Talvernian man was behind the Dread pilot and was holding her hands while telling her to relax. However, the Dread pilot was not totally relaxed as she was able to feel her trainer's hands on her arms while she was wearing only the suit of her uniform and she couldn't help but feel her body react to the feel of his body, she then felt her trainer's body heat up even more. She however was unaware that her trainer was feeling the same increase of heat in her body, but unlike her, the man was grinning a bit and enjoying this situation a lot more than he normally should.

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While the incidents were not bad, it had raised some concerns from the women as they were not used to suddenly working with men and dealing with such sudden surges of emotion and feeling that were totally foreign to them. That reason was why SCPO Mendez and Meia had brought a stop to that in order to avoid anything that might become problematic, but they didn't hinder any interaction between the Dread pilots and the Talvernian men since there was no report of fights breaking out. Mendez pointed out to Meia that since the men were familiar with women due to being in a co-gender environment, they were comfortable around women and were trying to get a bit closer to them and this would no doubt be confusing the women from her world.

Meia had to agree with that though Mendez had pointed out that it was to be expected after all and he suggested that they didn't hinder interaction between the men and women in order to allow the women to get more used to men. However, he had told her that the real test was when they were able to have the men from the Titan's Wrath to join their ranks. This way they were able to establish a better form of relations between men and women.

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The other group undergoing changes also included the Fire Teams as well, they decided to change their names to the Nirvana's Infantry Platoon as they were close to platoon size and the Spartans seemed all right with that for the time being, though this was merely for aesthetic reasons. The real changes went into their gear as they were now planning to switch to the ODST Battle Uniforms in change of their Marine Body Armor when the situation demanded it.

After reviewing the footages of their battles, the Master Chief realized that now was the time for the women to have more freedom of gear in their missions, namely in the defensive sense as they were going to need all the protection they could get, and while their Marine gear was effective, close quarters combat could become somewhat dicey so he decided to issue them ODST gear as these not only offered higher levels of protection but was suited for close quarters combat and urban areas. They were not going to phase out their Marine Body Armor just yet as these were easier to repair and maintain, but sometimes defense was needed more than maneuverability which was why they were being trained in the use of the Power Armors.

The Power Armors had undergone more upgrades and had been tested by Parfait in order to make them more effective, and while they were not all that powerful, the overall protection they had as well as the durability was more than welcome in such battles where durability and protection was needed more than maneuverability, and the fact that they were able to carry much heavier and more powerful weapons was something that would be very useful in battles where firepower outmatched maneuverability. Thus they were being upgraded to make them a lot more effective and would be key in battles that the women would find themselves in.

The women were more than willing to test out the gear when they were fully recovered but at the moment, the women on the ship were currently celebrating another significant event and that was Mother's Day, while many of the Nirvana's crew were young and none of them had their mothers there for different reasons, they still took the time to celebrate Mother's Day and it was a simple but loved affair when the crew would reminisce about their lives with their parents and their mothers most of all.

They were not the only ones as the Talvernians themselves were celebrating Mother's Day in their own respective fashions and they would talk about their mothers in their own fashions, some were sad that it was going to be a while before they were able to see them again, while some celebrate in a more sober fashion as their mothers had passed on in some form or another.

However, it was at this point that another part of the Nirvana's crew were going to celebrate Mother's Day.

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In the Forward Unto Dawn section of the Nirvana…

John was currently training with the other Spartan IIs as they were busy to keep themselves in top shape with them taking different approaches into doing so, Fred was currently fighting with several of the rebuilt Harvester Shock Troopers in close combat, these were naturally able to use the data from his MJOLNIR Mark VI's helmet recorder system so they were able to fight in the same level of the Spartan Killers that he had faced, while Linda was also training against several foes with her trademark weapon. Kelly likewise was in the shooting range and busy working on her abilities in shoot and she soon planned to go on a series of running laps while John was also busy there in the shooting range.

As they were doing this, they were soon joined by the Spartan IIIs who were very much dedicated to the training as well and they were all wearing their SPI Mark II Armors as they took their time to get to the range, Linda was quickly joined by Mark as they went to the art of being snipers, while Kelly and a batch of the Spartan IIIs were also in training as well and Fred was soon joined by the others in training as the senior Spartan IIs were training the new generation.

John stopped and looked at his fellow Spartan IIs and the Spartan IIIs and wondered how the others would have reacted to the sight before them had they been alive, it would have been something worth seeing as the other Spartan IIs never had to deal with training other Spartans since they very much were in the same class and worked in teams of three most of the time that they were together. However it felt good to see three good friends he had known since his younger days side by side in this new battle field, and the fact was that he knew that their help and that of the Spartan IIIs was invaluable.

His thoughts however turned away from that when Cortana and the three Dread pilots as well as Hibiki walked in, and so did Misty Cornwell. Hibiki had begun to build some ties with the three women who were the ones he partnered with when forming the VanDreads, in Dita's case it was fairly obvious what it was to the observer though Hibiki was still somewhat in the dark as Dita had done everything she was able to do to get closer to Hibiki with Misty egging her on with her attachment to Hibiki, as for Jura, that was still a bit in doubt as Jura's desire to have a baby was something that was difficult for Hibiki to deal with though they were getting along well enough, and for Meia, the two of them seemed to get along well enough.

The Spartan then was able to hear just what was being discussed by the group with the help of his MJOLNIR Mark VI's audio sensors.

"So that is what Mother's Day is like?"

"Yep! It's a good way to celebrate having a mother Cortana!"

The cheerful words spoken by Dita was not lost to the Spartan though he was thinking of other things, he remembered very little of his own birth mother only that she had a kind smile and smelled of soap. The only person he could think of that would be like a mother to him was none other than Dr. Catherine herself. She had been with them all since day one and had been among their family. He never forgot that fact and that was beginning to make him think of something just as Cortana and the others were nearby, while Dita and Misty were once more in the proverbial contest of staring each other down while Hibiki was trapped in the middle.

Jura saw this and decided to watch for the moment, trying to figure out who was going to win in this latest contest of wills between her fellow woman from Megele and the woman from another colony. She had spent some time thinking about how to get the seed she needed though she had begun to admit that teasing Hibiki about it was getting to be entertaining to say the least. She still wanted to get Hibiki's seed though she did have plans if that didn't work out, but she had to admit that her teasing of the young man was good to her for some reason or another.

"Here we go again…"

Cortana smiled a bit at that as she spoke.

"I wonder when Hibiki will decide how to deal with this mess he happens to be in?"

The blonde then replied.

"I don't know, but at least it's certainly not boring, though I hope that it happens soon, as much fun as it is to watch it does get boring, anyway, do you plan to celebrate Mother's Day Cortana?"

The former UNSC A.I gave a thoughtful expression and replied.

"I don't know for sure yet, maybe I will at some point."

Jura shook her head at that and replied.

"There's not much time in Mother's Day you know, it only lasts one day and you will only get one chance, besides, I think you're 'mother', Dr. Halsey would be really happy if you did it for her today."

Cortana was surprised at that and Jura saw it and replied.

"Come on, you should do it, I mean, she might not have given birth to you like normal women do, but you are very much her daughter in all respects right? I think it would be nice for you to show how much she means to you since she's been helping you get used to being a human woman in all respects."

"You do have a point there Jura."

The blonde grinned at that as she replied.

"No charge, I think it would be cool if you had help though, maybe asking the Master Chief for some help in the whole affair since he and the other Spartans know Dr. Halsey very well."

Cortana then looked at the Master Chief and to her surprise, he nodded a bit and then spoke to her.

"Why not?"

That was when he spoke to Dita.

"Dita, can I ask you a favor?"

The redhead turned to face the Spartan and was surprised as this was the very first time that the Spartan had ever asked her something before, let alone a favor. But she was quick to put that aside and give the Master Chief a happy smile.

"Of course you can ask me a favor Mr. Green Alien! What do you need me to do?"

"Can you help us organize a good menu on short notice?"

Dita nodded in happiness, as she was willing to do something for the Master Chief as he was quick to call his fellow Spartans together. Once they were all there, he told them about his plans and instead of them asking questions or raising objections, they agreed with the idea that he had given them and that was that as they decided to get out of their MJOLNIR Mark VI armor. Cortana looked at her protector and naturally loved one and smiled warmly as she spoke to him.

"You seem happy John, and remember, I happen to have my mother's memories so even if you do have your gear on, I can tell that you're in a good mood."

"Yes."

"I see…well then, time to get out of that Armor, we got work to do."

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In the Medical Bay…

Dr. Halsey was currently working on some new projects that would be used in a much later date and she felt like she was going to get even more exhausted as she took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes a bit to relieve the strain, once she was done, she sighed a bit and stopped working for a few minutes or so in order to get her thoughts back.

Ever since the Nirvana took in both the Titan's Wrath and the Ruby Rapier, calls had been coming in to the Nirvana as members of the crew on both ships wanted to know a number of things, most were harmless and some were more annoying than helpful. She was dealing with her own affairs but it had not been easy when she had to cut her time into helping the Nirvana deal with the wounded personnel from the ship itself.

As she finished her work, she wondered briefly if she should have retire from this life at some point, but as soon as that thought appeared, it disappeared just as quickly, retiring was not an option and quite frankly not really worth it, even though she was currently reaching her seventies, she still looked by around her mid thirties, a wonderful show of the increased medical technology that the UNSC had at the time, and with the combined access to UNSC technology and that of both Tarak and Megele, she could live a lot longer.

Besides, this new war required her aid as she was busy using her expertise in many fields to help them all fight the Harvesters and at least in this situation, they were able to fight their best against these foes and had the advantage, even though her Spartans had been put to the test by the Spartan Killers, she was still assured that they were going to grow stronger, as Mendez himself stated that given enough time, the Spartans would only get better.

It was then that she decided to check the Chronometer and saw the date, she sighed a bit at what she was looking at.

(So it's Mother's Day again….hmmmm)

Catherine never celebrated Mother's Day and she had her reasons as well, she too had parents like most people, her mother had been supportive and very capable despite her demanding jobs as both scientist and house wife while her father had been busy working as a engineer and computer support technician, when her parents died when she was sixteen, only a year after her making of her second Doctorial Thesis paper, she was saddened by that yet retained her focus on her tasks.

She believed that it was better to honor her family through hard work and diligence than just eating and partying, and when she worked on the making of the new Smart A.I Generations, she had dropped the idea of celebrating even more. She then became an apprentice to and rising to the position of being the star pupil of Vice Admiral Ysionris Jeromi, she had learned much from the Vice Admiral and considered him a great teacher and something of a parent.

She knew also that his humane nature and innate love to save lives was the reason he never approved of her working for ONI and that had made many decisions she made hard on her as she could easily see her mentor disapproving of such techniques and methods even though those said procedures and methods resulted in considerable successes that spelled the difference between survival and death.

She then thought about her Spartans and then felt the same guilt again in her, she had never forgotten nor completely forgiven herself for the life of a super soldier that she had placed on them so many years before. She always told herself that she was sacrificing the few for the needs of the many, yet that never worked on her consciousness in any fashion. Having raised John and the others from their times as children she had begun to see them as her own, that was why she always called them her Spartans.

Because of this, she had developed a motherly bond with them though she had ordered them around more than once when she was still among them back on Reach, she always respected them and cared for them, helping them adjust to the life that she had personally doomed them into living. Every day when she looked at them she would imagine how things would have been for them if she had not walked into their lives. They would have lived their lives differently and would have their freedom and their ability to choose their own lives. She took that from them the day she began to observe them and finally kidnap them into the program.

When she had gone after Daisy when she and the other Spartans with her had tried to escape, she never showed that she could understand Daisy's desire to return home to the life she once had and it made her feel all the more guilty for that life she gave her and the others. She had seen them suffer and fight with all that they had as well as see them die in battle before. It tore at her to know that she had made them live that life when they could have had different lives.

However, she knew that without what she had done, the UNSC would not have had a chance at all when the Covenant came to destroy them all, yet it never made her feel any better as she had always tried to appear that she was not all that affected though she knew that only those who had known her the best would see the conflict in her.

She knew that they saw her as a mother figure also and while she knew that they were professional soldiers, there was a tiny part of her wished that they would surprise her…

(No….that is too petty a reason for me to ask them.)

(Petty….aren't you forgetting that you have been like a mother to them?)

(No, I haven't….but I doomed them into this kind of life…what kind of mother would willingly allow her children to be used like that?)

Catherine mentally moaned in exhaustion as she knew that no amount of thinking on the past would change it, but still sometimes she wished that she could finally tell someone or anyone about the guilt and memories she carried with her for the past many years, at least find some way to finally release all the things that had been in her mind for so long.

That was when the door opened in the Medical Bay and in went none other than Magno and Buzam, she straightened herself up and placed back on her glasses and spoke to the elderly woman before her.

"Yes Captain Vivian, is there something that you need?"

Magno shook her head at that and replied.

"No, I am fine for the time being, but I think that it's about time that I had a conversation with you Dr. Halsey."

"Oh? What about?"

Magno sighed and spoke to her.

"It is about something that I should have asked before when you first came here, and now that we are not under threat by the Harvesters, I think that now is a very good time for me to ask this question, can you come with us to the Conference Room?"

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In the Conference Room…

Catherine Halsey sighed a bit as she sat down in front of both Magno and Buzam, she already had an idea as to what this new conversation was about, and while she would not bother about this, she kept in mind that Magno was not in the same category as the people she had dealt with back in the UNSC, there on the table was some food and drink though she was not really keen on the food and drink as she sat down as Magno and Buzam did the very same thing. Once they faced one another, it was then that Catherine took the offensive so to speak.

"What is this about Captain?"

The elderly woman spoke at that.

"I wanted to talk to you about some of the things you've done, namely about the Spartans."

Catherine gave a slight look of annoyance and wariness; she had always considered John and the rest of the surviving Spartan IIs as her Spartans and that was why talking about them to a stranger was something that she normally didn't do.

Magno looked at Catherine with an understanding look.

"I can tell that this is something that you find as an annoyance and no doubt something that you prefer never to be asked of, but I have to know why you did those things to them."

"It was not easy…"

"I know, John told me and the crew about everything. The conflicts and the the brush fire wars that were cropping up in the UNSC's Outer and even the Inner Colonies, but still, I wanted to know why you agreed with this. Kidnapping children from their parents and replacing them with clones who were destined to die to cover up the kidnappings is a very reprehensible crime. And then training them to be soldiers as well as turning them into test subjects is even worse."

Buzam nodded at that as well and spoke.

"I have to agree with the Captain Dr. Halsey, what you did to them was a very loathsome action and reprehensible as well. I am even amazed that you were not even charged with crimes against humanity for what you did to them."

Catherine knew that to be true, while the Spartan II Program was a resounding success despite their low numbers in fighting the Covenant, when it went public to boost morale in the UNSC it attracted a LOT of accusations for the unethical methods they used to mold John and the other children into Spartans, there had been no shortage of outrage in the public about the moral and ethical crimes committed on the Spartans and she was most of all the target of such angry words. but she stood by it and while her guilt was still very much there in her, she couldn't deny that they had done more than even she thought possible, they had kept the morale of the UNSCDF high and also turned what would have been a total lose into a victory, a Pyrrhic victory to be sure, but better than total loss that would have spelt doom to the UNSC.

"I know that, but I am no monster either, you may think of me as one for what I have done, but your world didn't have the difficulties the UNSC had, you didn't have control of the worlds in the number, or dealing with the number of the Insurrectionists who were tearing into the UNSC, when diplomacy failed and the long process of the administration went nowhere they tore into the UNSC and killed many. Even if we used the ODSTs to do covert actions, the casualties on the civilian population and the damage would have been enormous, and the same could be said for the UNSCDF."

"I made the choice to do the things in order to reduce the loss of life, and I have always carried the guilt of taking away the chance of the Spartans, my Spartans to live normal lives and people, ever day when I watched them train in Reach, part of me always tells me how cruel I was to have done this to them, taking away any chance of being normal people, dooming them to a life of warfare, death, and more. I always said to myself before that I sacrificed the few for the sake of the many every day, but I knew that it was not going to help anyway. I did what I could to treat them not as machines but people, I have always called them by their first names and never by their serial tags to show that I saw them for who they are, human beings, I played games with them and tried everything I could to make some semblance of a civilian life for them despite their lives as Spartans."

"I had to harden myself in order to not do something foolish when I subjected them to the Augmentations, I tried my best to save those who were unable to fight even after surviving due to the complications, and I had to hold back my tears when those who died were buried in space, and I dedicated my life to making sure that John and the others who survived the Augmentations would recover well and be able to life after it. You think that it was easy for me to bear the sight of the pain they all endured because of my research and my decision? It wasn't, they were all children I had tried to raise in some semblance of normalcy and felt responsible for, they were MY Spartans."

"When the Covenant came to attack the UNSC, and my Spartans fought them, I did whatever I could to support them in any way I could, when they died in battle, I felt the pain of their deaths whenever I got the confirmation and I look at the picture I had of them when they were young. I remember their faces, names, their lives, I remember everything and I will always regret having placed them into this life. When I was on Reach, I was ready to give my life, for not just the UNSC, but to finally make sure that I paid for what I had done to them, but that changed when Fred and the others found me. And I decided to save every human life that I could, starting with myself."

"But there are indeed worse things out there in the universe; the Covenant and the Flood proved that to me, the War proved that to me, and no matter how much guilt I carry for what I have done, I will not take back what I have done, without my Spartans, the war would have ended differently, without them, even the advances of the UNSC would have been for nothing, and without them, much more human lives would have been lost, and do not forget Captain, without my Spartans, your crew would have never been able to make it this far. Call me monster if you will, but I will not change what I have done nor will I take back anything that I have accomplished."

Magno and Buzam could see that Catherine meant those words right down to the bone and there was silence in the Conference Room for a few more minutes and when that was over, the elderly woman spoke to Catherine.

"I see….truth be told Dr. Catherine, I am not going to call you a monster, if I had the same knowledge as you did and lived in those times as you did, things would have been different for me as well. I might have done things in a different fashion, but I cannot judge you for what you have done."

"There would have been no doubt in my mind had things been different, my world or that of the men would have done what you did to John and the others in order to gain advantages, and while neither of them have done anything like that to my knowledge, there would no doubt be people who will be willing to do just that. You were in a dire circumstance before and during the Covenant war and I have no doubt that you had done what you could in order to make due."

The elderly woman smiled a bit as she thought about what she had seen when Catherine and the Spartans she had trained, raised, and been with for years talked, there was absolute respect between them and the Spartans, despite being super human killing machines showed absolute respect and loyalty to Catherine, John most of all, and the fact that Catherine had a soft spot for John showed that despite all she had done, there was a human heart and soul there in the woman as she cared deeply for the Spartans. If she didn't then it would not bother her if they died in battle or if they respected her or not.

"Besides, I have seen the way the Spartans treat you, they have a high level of respect for you and never say no to your orders when you give it to them, in fact, if I understand it correctly you are the only civilian they are willing to listen to and even take orders from. That tells me that they hold you in high regard, to the point of seeing you as a mother figure and you show it back since you do care for them and their lives, anyone who treats them like a statistic would care little for them at all and treat them as disposable weapons. You are not one of those people Dr Halsey, if you were, they would never show you such respect and trust to such a level. They would gladly fight to protect you and no doubt they would even die for you."

Catherine nodded at the truth of that and Magno spoke again.

"I can tell that you act like a mother to them with the way you speak their names, no doubt since you had a large part of training and raising them, you know how to tell them apart since none of us can ever tell them apart unless we hear them speak when they wear the Armor they have on."

Catherine smiled at that as she recalled how she was able to indeed tell them apart despite the armor that they had on them. Magno and Buzam noted that and the Commander was the next to speak.

"But we noted that you have a slightly different relationship with John, you see him as your favorite Spartan and you have absolute confidence in him and his abilities. You also show him a deep affection as a mother would a son, and we see the very same in John's interactions with you he never questions or tries to undermine your authority and has full trust in you."

"You are right, John is my favorite Spartan and I care for him, he is an attractive young man and I have always seen him as the bravest and the luckiest of them all, ever since the first day I saw him."

That piqued the interest of the others and Magno spoke out.

"Really?"

"Yes, he was the very first child I ever observed."

Magno smiled at that and she spoke.

"At any rate Dr. Halsey, the purpose of this discussion was not in any way meant to have you seen as a monster, but for us to know how you were able to go through with what you have done and how you were able to deal with the things you did to them. You were in a different time, a different dimension, and a different life, as such I have no authority to judge your actions. If we were in the same boat as you, I do not know how things might have turned out for our world and that of the men if we were in the exact same circumstances as well. And since you care for and respect them as people and as your….children, then it tells us that you are not evil in all senses."

Catherine nodded and that was that as Magno and Buzam left the room and she headed off to the Nirvana to get back to her work, however it was then that Cortana walked over to Dr. Halsey with a smile that spoke of something being planned, that was more than enough to get the attention of her mother.

"What's with the smile Cortana?"

"I wanted to ask you something, mother, you have anything to do today?"

The UNSC scientist became curious as to what was going on here as she had never seen Cortana this excited before. She trusted Cortana without any reservation and decided to reply to her 'daughter's' question.

"Nothing too pressing, why do you ask?"

"There's something that I need to show you."

Catherine was even more curious by this and decided to follow Cortana as she had indeed locked down her terminal in the Medical Bay before she had gone to the meeting with Magno and Buzam to the Conference Room. As they arrived at a nearby room, the two entered and to her surprise, there was a table filled with food and drink, and there were the Spartans, every last one of them, even the Spartan IIIs and they were all out of their Armor and wearing simple and utilitarian clothing. Catherine was surprised at this, as despite taking their Armor off when they had to, her Spartans only did this for more in depth maintenance on their Armors and never took them off completely for any other reason and the same could be said for the Spartan IIIs as they never took off their gear unless they needed to train and make repairs on their gear.

"What is going on here?"

Cortana replied to that.

"Happy Mother's Day!"

With that, Cortana hugged Catherine and she was stunned by this as she stood there and couldn't help but feel some level of shock at what was happening before her as she looked at Cortana, she could understand Cortana as she was her younger self and as such was her genetic daughter even though she had never given birth to Cortana herself, but when she looked at John and the others, she couldn't help but be confused.

"You were part of this?"

John nodded and replied.

"We thought it would be best for this to be done as this is a significant day."

"But…I'm not your mother John, nor am I the mother of Kelly, Linda, and Fred, even the Spartan IIIs are not my children either."

Kelly then spoke.

"Maybe there's truth to that, you are not related to us in any way, but you were always there with us, to us, you are our mother in all ways even if not by blood. We never forgot how you always tried to be there for us and support us, playing games when we were not being trained by the DIs, giving us some treats when we do well, showing us respect and kindness when you are with us and being there in everything. Those things you did made you our mother Ma'am, and that will never change."

Fred was next to speak as well.

"You were with us through everything since the first day we were on Reach, helping us adapt to our new lives to defend mankind, all the way to when we started fighting the Covenant, and you always did what you could in order to help us no matter what. That makes you our mother in all senses."

Linda also nodded as she spoke.

"We owe our survival and success to you, as well as the fact that you were there with us every step of the way. And that is why we always see you as our mother in every sense of the word."

John was the one who finished it as he spoke to Dr. Halsey.

"To you, we were living beings and not machines, and that means a lot to us, and you were among the few people who never called us freaks, monsters, or non humans, to you we were your Spartans and in that respect, we were your children, the children of your mind, sweat, and efforts. You were the one who saw us for who we were underneath the Armor even if that annoyed us at times. You are our mother Dr. Halsey even if you are not blood related to any of us and that will never change."

The feelings that Catherine felt in that moment were varied but all were in the positive spectrum, after that discussion with Captain Magno and Buzam, she had finally told someone of the burden of her actions and that helped alleviate that, and now knowing that her Spartans care for her like this in truth was more than enough to make her feel happy as she hugged Cortana.

She then looked at her Spartans and they nodded as she hugged them gently, they naturally made sure not to harm her with their full strength and in some ways, Catherine felt like a china doll compared to her Spartans who were a lot stronger and more than she was at this moment. The Spartans were more than happy as they could tell that their mother was happy for what they had done for her and that made them feel happy as well.

As she finished hugging her Spartans and did the same with the Spartan IIIs who didn't stop her, she then walked with them to be in this special celebration, Catherine in all of her time in the event known as Mother's Day, gave a smile in a very happy and honest way, not the kind of smile that was forced as she was with her Spartans.

Her children…

--------

Through a camera…

Magno smiled as she looked at the event that had just taken place and she closed it down, allowing the Spartans to have this moment with their 'mother' as she knew that this was a private matter. She then looked out to the vast expanse of the stars and then directed her attention to the two ships that were flying alongside and wondered just how they were going to get both sides to work together. This was going to be a serious test of many things, including her patience as well as her ability to keep her own temper in check, but it was things like this that kept life interesting at the very least.

--------

To be continued…

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Author's notes:

This is not too long and is something that I felt that the story needed since this deals with a subject that should be explored a lot more in detail, namely the way people would react to the discovery of the project that created the Spartans. This had been mentioned before and while I have pointed out this before that circumstances in the Halo universe were different than that of the VanDread universe, I felt that it would be better to have a more direct explanation.

Keep in mind that on both Tarak and Megele, they do have cloning procedures, while the women allow themselves to have children the natural way, they still use gene manipulation methods in order to have children since they are an all female society. As for the men, they use cloning vats in order to have children though this is not mentioned in the anime or manga. Through these methods of reproduction, it is not impossible for the women and men of both worlds to create super soldiers through gene manipulation, by breeding out the recessive genes while increasing the dominant genes in their gene pool in both worlds. And in turn would have easily conscripted the children to the military and having them live military lives. They would also be able to covertly do this and gather the DNA from people who have the traits and clone them.

A good example would be in the episode of Justice League Unlimited where Terry finds out about his genetic relation to Bruce Wayne and then learning about Amanda Waller's Batman Beyond project.

They did the same thing in the game of Metal Gear Solid and that kind of technique was used to create the Coordinators in the Gundam SEED Universe. Let's keep in mind that this kind of formula has been used many times before and while VanDread is a good anime, there's plenty of ways it would have been expanded. In light of the mentioned information, there would have been no doubt that if given enough funds and support, there would have been super soldier programs in both worlds and considering their cold war with one another and the possible factions on either world that would have wanted to take things to the highest level, then it would have been done.

That naturally means that there is potential for both Tarak and Megele could start their own super soldier program if given the right incentive, and given full support, funding and resources.

While Dr. Catherine's methods are indeed unethical in many ways, at least she did care and loved the Spartans and did her best to make some semblance of normalcy for them. And in turn the Spartans in the sources of information did give back that respect and affection as they do consider her a mother figure and someone they will fight and die to protect with their lives. If Dr. Catherine didn't see them as her Spartans she would have just been like the stereotypical cold hearted and emotionless doctor who didn't care at all if they were all killed and would have recruited more children to fill in the gaps.

At any rate, that should do it.

And as for deaths in the story, I will point out that there will be casualties for the good guys, but I need to take the time and plan it all out on how it would have a serious impact on the crew and on others well. That is why it takes some time to do those things since planning it carefully for maximum impact and effect is key to it's success in enhancing the storyline. But I assure you that the deaths of core members of the story are being considered. Obviously I can't kill key characters but those that I can kill will have some heroic deaths if needed.

Just let me worry about who dies in this story and let me worry about the details on how they meet their ends, all right?


	12. Chapter 13

VanDread Halo The Second Stage

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to VanDread Or Halo so let's leave it at that.

Chapter 8

Part 1

Alliance in progress...

( ): Thoughts

...

In the Nirvana's Engineering Bay...

"All right, a few tweaks here and there, all right how is it?"

Parfet turned as she looked at one of her fellow engineers as they were currently running some tests on a brand new version of her Power Armor that she and the engineers along with Dr. Halsey and Flowing chapter had been working on. The new version was slimmer and more human like as well as being less bulky. Taking inspiration from the MJOLNIR Mark VI and the Forerunner Combat Skin images she had seen before, the plucky head engineer decided that instead of going for large and thick plates for armor, she would go for slimmer and smaller yet denser ones.

The armor also had improved motor systems for increased speed, power, and flexibility but were made in a way to cut the need for the users to undergo the same augmentation procedures that made the Spartan IIs in the UNSC. Parfet had no doubt that taking that path would not sit well with anyone despite the fact that the technology had been improved, as what happened to the Spartan IIIs.

So far they were still undergoing more tests and this current one was to field test the new and improved shielding system without adding extra weight to the armor's overall frame. The new shield generator was not bulky and was no longer the replaceable kind of shield system. It was a replica of the MJOLNIR shield generator system and effective as they also managed to replicate the shield system of the Dreads to make the shields stronger as well.

The one Parfet called to was running a scanner on the Armor unit and replied.

"Just a bit more tuning with the response circuits Parfet, so far there's no errors."

"Whew...that's good."

Dr. Halsey looked at the data and so did Flowing Chapter to make sure that the newly added data was properly added into the database and would be used to perfect and fix any other errors in the system of the armor itself. Once she was done, she spoke to Parfet who smiled at the results of the latest test.

"Looks like the Armor will be ready for another round of actual field testing, I think it would be best that we begin testing the Armor in both zero-gravity combat as well as on the tests like before with the previous models."

Parfet nodded and spoke to the others in her staff.

"All right girls, let's get some rest and take the time check our notes."

"Right!"

...

In the galley...

Several of the Talvernian volunteers were currently having a good meal for the day before heading back to their area to get some training done for the day. The group were mostly women and a few men as the rest of their fellow Talvernians were already done with their rounds and taking a load off their shoulders. One of the women named Diana spoke to her comrades about their most recent battle.

"What do you guys think of that wreck that we found?"

One of them replied to the question.

"Never saw anything like it before if that is what you mean, it's hard to believe that it's actual alien technology."

"I know that as well, still, this technology might be the key to defeating the Harvesters, but I am curious about those Spartans, they were amazing huh?"

Another one commented on that.

"I think we've got some serious allies there, but they seem to be more willing to keep to themselves a lot at times. Still better having them alongside us in my book."

One of the men then spoke about something else entirely.

"What about the others...do you think they made it safely?"

They were silent at this until Diana then spoke to them.

"We have to believe that they did, when we get the chance, we can try and contact them, but for now, let's stay here and do our part to not only fight the Harvesters, but to also make sure that our people will be safe and given a chance to rebuild."

This was met by the others with agreement, and they continued to eat their food, though it was not long before some of the men began to talk about the women from Megele. And the conversations were naturally kept low level in terms of volume as the men kept in mind that while the women of the all female world had become used to them, talking in terms that had...different meanings could be asking for a good deal of trouble from them.

The Talvernian women agreed to some extent though they also offered some of their own opinions on the matter as well.

...

In the Dawn's shooting range...

Linda was patiently looking over Hibiki as the young man was currently using one of the SRS99D AM S2 Sniper Rifles in the shooting range. SO far he was doing well enough, but nowhere near the mark of a proficient sharpshooter. Nevertheless, for a young man who was not even trained in the military ways like she and the others were, he did show good proficiency as a sniper and needed more time to adjust to using the weapon.

The lone wolf Sniper of the Spartan IIs watched the boy pick his target and fire another round.

BOOM!

The roar of the sniper rifle was heard and soon enough Hibiki hit the target, though in this case, his aim was a bit off and he didn't hit the target centre mass. However, he kept his cool andf refocused his sights and waited for the next shot.

(Not bad...a few more months, then he'd be a designated marksman yet.)

Linda turned and in walked Mendez who looked at Hibiki calmly and then directed his attention to Linda who stood straight and saluted him.

"Sir!"

Mendez returned the salute and spoke to Linda.

"At ease Spartan, how's he doing?"

"Doing well enough sir, a few more months and he's be a good marksman."

Mendez nodded as he watched the young man's progress in the shooting range and spoke to the young man.

"Hibiki, that's enough, let's see those results."

"Sir!"

Hibiki got up and placed the safety on the massive weapon and placed it aside as he waited for the results of his training with the mammoth rifle. He was nowhere near as good as Linda or the other Spartans when it came to using this weapon, but the fact that Linda who was the unmatched sniper of the Spartan IIs, and equalled only by the Spartan III Mark, said that he was doing well filled him with a measure of pride.

The young man would normally have been full of himself in the past and also think that a woman's opinion didn't matter that much. But after training with the Master Chief and then getting some extra training from the other Spartan IIs when he met them as well as the man who trained the Spartans himself, he learned to keep his pride out of the equation and focus on the results. Pride was good to have, but not when it blinded you and could get you killed.

...

In another section of the Forward Unto Dawn...

Fred was currently out of his MJOLNIR and running through a few paces with his Combat Knives in a close combat drill. He was not very comfortable with removing his MJOLNIR, like all the Spartans in the Spartan IIs who don't feel very comfortable without their armor on. He was currently wearing only a simple set of clothes, which was comprised of a tank top as well as a pair of pants as well as some work out shoes.

The highest ranking officer in the Spartan IIs was deep in thought about what to do now in this kind of world. The knowledge that the UNSC had barely won the war and the Covenant had been broken into two with one side now aligned with the UNSC and the other still fighting under the lies of the Prophets was a concern. He wondered that if they did find their way back to the UNSC, what they would do afterwards. He knew they could go back to their task of keeping the peace and making sure that no one would attack the UNSC while it rebuilt from the ashes of the three decades long war. He had no doubt that the Brutes would be a threat as well as those who would help them in attacking the UNSC so there would not be any guarantee that the Loyalists would give up in their plan to harm the UNSC.

But what then when all these matters had been dealt with? That was a concern for him as he had no idea what to do with his life afterwards. He had no idea what he would do when there was no enemies to fight, and the idea of settling down is alien to him as well. After a while of thinking about his options while still fighting with his Combat Knives, Fred decided to shelve those thoughts away for the time being and focus on dealing with them for a much better time.

However as was about to finish, he was soon greeted by the arrival of a certain blonde Dread pilot who also happened to be a sword user. The blonde female then removed her sword from the scabbard and moved to fight with her sword. The Spartan officer looked at the sight before him and stopped to see just how good the woman was with that sword of hers. So far as he watched Jura move and fight with her sword, he noted that she fought like a fencer and despite the fact that her outfit was not exactly the kind worn by fencers, at least according to the data that he knew of concerning history, she seemed to be rather good in fighting with that outfit.

(Either she's done this before or that could be a variation of the fencing uniform that they use on that home world of hers.)

Fred then decided that there was not something that he should concern himself for that matter. He moved out to see what he should do to pass the time, but that was when he was greeted by the blonde woman in question.

"Excuse me?"

Fred turned and there was Jura before him, it seemed that the blonde woman wanted to ask him something; at least he thought so, judging by the way she seemed to look at him.

"Yes?"

"Do you happen to some time on your hands?"

"I do...what is it you want?"

Jura knew that she was asking something that was a bit new to her, but she had seen Fred in the way he fought in the drill earlier at the corner of her eye and she was able to see that he was able fight with Knives in a way that showed that he was quite skilled. And she wanted to see just how capable he was in a fight with blades. This was an odd thing but ever since she had heard about how the Master Chief had began to teach the women how to fight using CQC tactics, she had developed an interest to test her sword skills against someone who could fight with blades.

It was rather ambitious and would have been seen as crazy since she would be sparring against a Spartan but she wanted to do so and it would be a good thing for her as she had not been able to find anyone to spar with her. Jura was one of the best sword users in the pirates, having graduated from a top ranking school of fencing back on Megele. The problem she had was she was the only one as the majority of the women preferred to fight at long range, and while she had no problem with that herself she liked to fight close range. The sword she had was a personal gift from her mother who herself was an avid fan of swords and had this custom made for her.

She could have asked to spar with John, but with him being so busy with matters in both the Infantry force of the Nirvana and also with his fellow Spartans along with Cortana and Hibiki, she didn't want to disturb him. Kelly and Linda were also not the best choice as they were not very keen on the idea of using close range weapons and the Spartan IIIs were out of the question to her.

So this left only Fred, and the fact that he was quite skilled with blades as far as she had seen, he was a good choice to spar with, that is if he was willing, if he refused then she could do little about that.

She then spoke to the Spartan to voice her intent.

"Do you mind if you spar with me?"

That made Fred curious as to why Jura would ask him something like this, he was worried about that as well as he knew that compared to the Megele woman, he was a lot more powerful than her. And even simple mock attacks from him could harm her if she and he were not careful. That was more than enough to make him state that problem.

"I am not sure that is a wise idea."

Jura would normally had been offended but she knew enough to know why he was hesitant and she replied.

"I know that it might be, but at least think it over for now, it's not a seriously demanding request but it's there for you to take."

With that done, Jura decided to spar by herself as she readied herself into the fencing position she was familiar with for a long time, once she felt ready, she went for it again and began to practice the forms taught to her. Fred himself thought it over and decided that he could at least slow down his reactions and they could use weapons that were made not to cut and harm either of them. He knew that this was not what he had in mind, and it would be difficult keeping his augmented abilities in check, but he might as well do it and he could try at least to keep himself from harming the blonde Dread pilot.

Besides that, she was not an enemy and John himself seemed to be on good terms with the blonde woman himself. And that was because he had been with them a lot longer, and Fred did wonder just what would make John work well with the pirates in the past when he and Cortana had met them months before.

He coughed a bit to Jura and she stopped from her routine to look at him and wonder just what he wanted this time around as she had thought that he was going to leave.

"All right, I'll spar, but keep in mind that I will have to keep my abilities in check so as not to harm you."

Jura nodded in agreement as she decided to ask Fred to wait as she needed to go back to her room and find some of her collection of weapons that were not sharp enough to harm them in a full on spar. Most people thought that she only focused on the things women of her world loved and in truth she did. But she found swords and other bladed weapons to be beautiful and elegant in their own right. This was why she actually had a collection of said weapons in a compartment in her room.

So when she was not busy taking care of herself and keeping herself in top physical condition and appearance, she kept her blades in good condition and had a supply of materials to keep them clean and rust proof. This was something that not even Barnette knew of, at least not yet. Once she found what she was looking for, she took some light but very strong rubber blade guards with her and soon made her way back to the section where Fred was waiting patiently. He was relaxing himself and slowing his body down through calm mediation and breathing

...

In the Kitchen of the Forward Unto Dawn...

"Oh...so that's how you do it?"

"That's right Ms. Cortana you have to make sure the mix is right."

Dita and Cortana were currently cooking in the kitchen area of the UNSC Frigate that merged with the Ikazuchi and the Megele Cruiser. Dita had come asking for advice on how she could get a lot closer with Hibiki and she did so by asking Cortana herself since many of the others were rather busy. The former A.I then used this as a chance to ask Dita to help her learn how to cook. The red head smiled and jumped at the chance to teach Cortana how to cook and as such, she and Cortana got some ingredients from the Kitchen in the Nirvana as well as the food stores in the Dawn.

So far Cortana's first attempts were not too good so Dita had to work a bit harder in teaching her how to cook her dish properly. The reason was that Cortana rarely cooked and while she had the knowledge and information on how cooking can be done, she had not done it herself. This was a learning experience for her and while she was not happy with her previous attempts which were either too burned or not cooked right, she was learning.

As she did the steps, Dita then asked her a question as per their agreement.

"So do you think it would be all right for me to ask Mr. Alien for the chance to have his seed?"

Cortana blushed at that and chuckled at the idea, she HAD heard about that and couldn't help but imagine the shock Hibiki would have if the innocent redhead asked him to be a father of all things.

"I think you might want to give that idea a bit more time Dita, asking Hibiki to be a father is not that simple as you think."

The redhead was curious about that and made that obvious to the woman as Cortana looked at the cooking dish before her.

"How hard can it be to get Mr. Alien's seed Cortana?"

The UNSC woman blushed a bit more though she managed to not laugh at that as she moved her mixture off the bowl, poured it onto the new meat that she had been able to cut well without cutting herself and into the cooking pot and got the fire started as she answered her friend.

"That depends on what...method you use get it, if you plan to...uh use your world's methods, you would have to take his seed out by making him, release it."

"How do I do that?"

Cortana was trying her best not to laugh along with blushing to the point that she would mess up her third attempt at cooking this meat dish that she planned to show to Dr. Halsey and even to John should he come back from his escort mission for the Captain. She knew that Dita was thinking on how to get Hibiki's seed in the same way as was done on her world. And considering how pregnancy was done in her world, she had no doubt that Hibiki might object. She managed to calm herself and reply to Dita's question.

She however kept in mind that Dita was technically a minor at sixteen so telling her the old ways of men and woman procreating was asking for trouble.

"Well, usually it's better that he is willing so you have to take time with it."

"Oh...but I heard that Misty said that she wanted to take Mr. Alien to her own room and show him how men and women would get to know each other better. I don't know what she meant by that but since you know about men and women, can you tell me what she meant by that Ms. Cortana?"

"Uh...it's kind of hard to explain."

"Have you done it before with Mr. Green Alien?"

THAT got a reaction from Cortana as she turned around to face Dita and with a very deep blush on her face though she managed to get her cooking dish away from the fire as required to prevent it from being over cooked. She then spoke to the young woman as soon as she got her voice to start working again.

"W-What do you mean by that?"

"I was just curious if you've done what Misty said before with Mr. Green Alien. If you have then you could tell me how I can do it with Mr. Alien when i finally convince him to come to my room."

Cortana didn't know what to say at this point as the question had rendered totally speechless, but before she could recover, Dita then realized that there was something going on here. She might have been seen as ditzy and something of an airhead at times, but Dita was intelligent and observant when she saw something that she felt was important.

She had noted that John and Cortana seemed to be...closer than usual as it were. Normally people would have attributed it to the fact that they had been working together for years and as such would be naturally comfortable around each other. Dita knew that to be true as well but she noted something else was in the air around them. This had happened for the past few days and she also noted that Cortana seemed to have...some sort of glow about her.

All of these things she was able to notice and there were occasions that when she was able to see Dr. Halsey and Cortana talking together, she noted that there were times that the doctor spoke to Cortana concerning John. And those conversations seemed to gain a very similar response from Cortana in the same way this conversation was getting to her as well. She had no idea why that was case at first since she already knew that Cortana had a very deep sense of trust, and respect for the Master Chief.

But now when she mentioned this stuff to Cortana, it seemed to get a reaction from her and this made Dita all the more aware. She then spoke to the former A.I, hoping that she was not mistaken.

"Have you done it with already with Mr. Green Alien?"

The silence in the room was almost as long as Cortana tried to find some way to say anything that would deny it. But she did not like to lie to Dita, the innocent redhead was her friend in the ship and she liked her innocence and humour as well. But still, to be asked if she had been intimate with John when she and John already had done that was not exactly something Cortana wanted everyone to know about.

But she knew that eventually Dita would figure it out so no sense hiding it for too long, and of course she would have to bring it up with Dr. Halsey soon so maybe her 'mother' could give Dita some advice on keeping that information to herself.

Cortana then nodded and before Dita could say anything or ask any more questions, she told her everything that she could tell without making her even more filled with embarrassment. By the time that Cortana was done explaining everything to Dita, the young redhead was looking as if she was going to pass out from shock as well. It took a while before Dita finally spoke to Cortana.

"So...THAT is how men and women have...children?"

"Y...Yeah...and it's also a way for some couples...to uh, show their affection physically with one another."

"So...you and Mr. Green Alien have...done that already?"

"Yes."

Cortana expected Dita to be shocked, disgusted, and more than willing to stay away from Hibiki the second she learned of this. She did not expect her friend to suddenly become highly animated and seemingly eager as well.

"It's really that good for you and Mr. Green Alien?"

"Uh...I'd be lying if I said it was really bad...it take some time to get used to it and it might hurt if you've done it for the first time, but when you get past the initial pain and you and your...partner are ready, it's very nice. Even more so if you care for the person you do it with."

"Wow..."

Dita blushed as she began to picture such things in her head and she couldn't help but blush at the idea of doing that with Hibiki of all things. The way Cortana had told her those things made her all the more interested as she could see that Cortana had some sort of glow about her when she talked about what she had done with the Master Chief. And while Cortana had not been too descriptive, her imagination was taking over.

She then spoke out to Cortana.

"Can you teach me how to do that with Mr. Alien?"

Cortana suddenly wished she had never opened her mouth and told Dita this but she kept her self calm and recalled the plan that she had come up with earlier and replied.

"I think that it's best that you keep that to yourself for now Dita, and don't tell the others I told you these things."

"Why?"

"Well, if this came out to the rest of your fellow pirates, how do you think they would react? It's been some time already but they still don't know enough about men and knowing THAT about men can be a real problem. Besides, what do you think would happen if Jura found out and tried to seduce Hibiki to get his seed?"

Dita thought about that and the idea of Jura doing THAT with Hibiki did not sit well with her and even more so if that was what Misty had in mind for Hibiki if she was able to get her hands on the Tarak youth. Still it was hard for her not to think about it and she made that clear to Cortana.

"I understand...but still, it sounds really, interesting to me. Can you tell me how to at least do some of those things with Mr. Alien someday?"

Cortana felt like she needed some medicine for her head right now, this was not the kind of conversation she was expecting from Dita. But she decided to keep her cool and answer the question that Dita had asked her concerning her desire to do those things with Hibiki.

"First, before I say anything, we need to finish this up and then we go to see my mother."

...

Later in the Medical Bay...

Catherine Halsey was currently running through some of the data concerning the recovering Spartans as well as helping out in the medical cases in the Medical Bay along with Duero and Paiway when Cortana and Dita came in. Paiway greeted her friend and Dita greeted her friend back and Cortana spoke to her 'mother'.

"Mom, can I interrupt you for a minute?"

Catherine turned and nodded.

"Sure, what is it you want to talk about."

The former A.I blushed a bit and that was enough to get Catherine's attention and Cortana then whispered into her ear. The second Cortana explained half of the reason why she and Dita were in the Medical Bay and she wanted to talk to her, the Doctor's eyes widened and

Dr Halsey turned at Cortana once she was done with a look of utter shock in her face, she looked at her 'daughter' and then to Dita, she looked about and saw that there were still some patients there and naturally Duero and Paiway were about so having this conversation in the Medical Bay no matter how appropriate the place was, was certainly a bad idea.

She turned and spoke to Duero.

"Duero, I need to handle some matters elsewhere, do you mind?"

"Not at all."

...

As soon as the three women were in an unoccupied room, the UNSC scientist asked both Cortana and Dita to sit down and she spoke directly to Cortana.

"You TOLD Dita about how men and women would procreate AND show intimate feelings to one another?"

Cortana blushed deeply and nodded in utter silence to Catherine's question, Halsey then looked at Dita and then back to Cortana and she sighed a bit before speaking.

"I did say that sooner or later, someone in the ship was going to find out...but I had never expected that it would be you who spilled the beans as it were Cortana."

"I know...I just couldn't lie to Dita about that and she did find out on her own."

When Dita nodded in agreement about what Cortana said to Catherine, she couldn't help but shake her head in some level of amusement.

"I see...anyway, it was a good thing that you came to see me, since I have been intimate with men before when I was younger so I do know what can make it a good experience. But we're not here to talk about my own experiences right now. Dita."

"Yes?'

"You may have promised my daughter to not tell anyone about what she has told you, but now you have to promise me that you will not reveal anything about what you are about to learn about Sex between men and women. Cortana's warning is very much true since if this came out to the rest of the crew, it is not going to be well received. The Talvernians know about it but they are rather discrete about such things. If you're fellow women from Megele find out about it, it will certainly be something that none of them expect and it will certainly cause some tension and strange circumstances in the ship."

Dita nodded at that as Dr. Halsey then looked about the room as to make sure that there were no listening devices that could reveal what was going on in the room that they were currently in. Once she was done with her visual examination of the room, the doctor turned to both her and Cortana and sat down to face the two of them once more.

"Now then, let's start from the beginning on how exactly this happened, and when this is done, I am going to help you two get some more understanding on just how the sexual relationships between men and women can be better understood as well as utilized."

Cortana then replied.

"Mother...please try not to be too descriptive about that, Dita IS still sixteen after all."

Catherine smirked a bit and replied.

"Cortana...there ARE women in the past who are in the same age as Dita who already have lost their innocence on these matters so she's not alone. Though I will say that in hindsight, she might very well be the first woman of Megele in her generation to learn about the old ways of co-gender procreation after nearly three generations of separation between men and women in her home system. And besides, after what you've told her, you can help me with the descriptive parts on your own already."

Cortana blushed and groaned at the truth in that statement while Dr. Halsey smirked a bit more as she started to talk to Dita.

...

In the Nirvana's Hanger Bay...

"Are you sure that this is a wise idea Captain?"

John asked Magno as the elderly woman was going to board a Megele built shuttle along with Buzam, Meia, Gascogne, the NCOs of the Nirvana's Infantry Teams, and naturally the Spartan IIs. The Spartan IIIs were given the order to stay behind to keep the Nirvana safe for now. They didn't quite like the idea as they wondered just what the men of Tarak were like, but they decided to follow the orders. Chief Mendez was currently handling the training of both the Infantry Teams and Hibiki so there was not much he could do, and Dr. Halsey didn't like politics as it is so she busied herself with working on new technology and ideas that could help them in the battles to come.

And even though the Titan was an allied ship, that did not mean the Spartans came unarmed as Kelly and John were armed with M7 SMGs and MA5C Assault Rifles, while Linda was armed with a BR55 HB SR Battle Rifle and a MA5C as well. Though in truth, these weapons were armed with TTRs instead of live ammunition for safety's sake and for non lethal take downs if and when such moves were necessary. This was a serious meeting and as such, the Spartans were more than ready for anything despite the fact that they had some level of reservations on Magno coming to the ship of the men.

Magno nodded as she was soon being helped into her chair by Meia and Buzam.

"I am Chief, seeing the Titan myself can give me an idea of just what the men have up their sleeves and how it can help us fight the Harvesters."

Linda then replied.

"You do realize Captain that they might decide to hide some things from us right? We may be allies, but so far we are allies of circumstance, not full allies just yet."

Magno nodded with a smile at Linda as the Spartan Sniper did raise a valid point.

"I know, but it is to be expected, you can't throw away the past no matter how hard you try, I can only hope for the best and that includes them to be willing to use what they have to fight the Harvesters alongside us. Besides, having you around can be more than enough for now."

Kelly turned and gave a slight nod to John and Linda, which told the other Spartans that she thought that they were going to have to trust the Captain on this one, and technically, counting the women on the Ruby Rapier and the Talvernian soldiers they had on the Nirvana, along with the Spartan IIIs, they did outnumber the men on the Titan. Still it was not something that the group knew that they could rely on. John then replied to that.

"I suppose, but I get the feeling that the men there will still do what they can, they've already committed what can be seen as treason on Tarak by siding with us and the women. Their leadership may have agreed to work with us to fight the Harvesters after that battle we had been in before, but that does not mean that they are totally on our side."

Buzam and the other women nodded in agreement as they understood the situation that was playing out before them. Magno nodded too as she understood the logic there in what the Spartan had said and she decided to reply to that.

"Then it will be a hard battle...but that is what we've been in for a long time, and while words can still hurt, at least they won't kill us."

That was enough to make the Spartans chuckle slightly between each other as the shuttle was now ready for takeoff. Magno had sent a signal ahead of their departure to tell Marcus that she was coming in to see the Titan for herself. This was something that Marcus had not expected, but he was able to state that he was willing to be their host for now. That was enough and at least it was going to be on a neutral sense as he gave his word that while they were there on the Titan, they all were under his protection.

...

In the Titan's Wrath...

As soon as the Nirvana's shuttle landed in the Hanger Bay of the Titan's Wrath, the people inside saw a contingent of the Sand Panthers in full military detail to greet them and they were all armed to the teeth as well. Captain Marcus was there along with a small team of the Sand Panthers to act as his personal body guard.

Buzam could see that this unit was the best of the best, and the same could be seen by Meia as well as Gascogne. John himself noted that as Marcus spoke to them after giving the customary salute.

"Nice of you to drop by to the Titan, anyway, we're still cleaning up the mess so don't be surprised if some of the ship's areas will be on lockdown and you are not allowed to those said locations."

Buzam nodded and they were soon underway as the three Spartan IIs escorted the officers alongside the NCOs of the Nirvana's Infantry Teams who were there to see just how capable the men were of the Titan's Wrath. There were a number of engineers moving about with tools and supplies on them and they were focused on the tasks at hand to not bother the incoming group though one or two of the young men would comment on having women on a Tarak vessel.

Some of the men even gave looks of horror and were about to panic when they got shouted at by one of the senior engineers to get back to work. One of the said engineers, a young man from the looks of him with dark brown skin like Buzam herself and with his hair in a series of braids walked up to the group. The man had a number of scars all like that of claw marks on the right side of his face going down to his chin and had the look of being a professional with an axe to grind on someone.

He stopped and saluted Marcus and looked at the assembled crew as well as the Spartan IIs and replied.

"Captain, these wouldn't happen to be the visitors we were expecting?"

"That's correct Head Engineer Travis."

The man looked at them slowly and replied.

"As long as they don't hassle my boys or muck about with the Titan, they got my permission to wonder about, anything gets broken by them on my watch however, and I will personally send them out of here myself."

The man left and turned to shout out to a band of engineers carrying some supplies too slowly for his liking.

"Hey! You two! Quit taking so bloody long to get those parts to the areas that need them or I will personally have you running laps in the Bay until you drop!"

The engineers nodded and replied in crisp fashion.

"Sir! Yes Sir!"

Marcus smirked a bit and replied as the young man moved out from the area to check on the still ongoing repairs on their ship.

"That's our Head Engineer Travis Banks, don't worry about what he said, but he means it as well, he's also one of our senior Combat Engineers and trains our Engineering Corps."

John then spoke.

"He's no regular engineer I take it?"

"He isn't, he was one of the engineers who spearheaded the Vanguard Program and had been one of the top designers of the machines, but he got annoyed at how the brass was handling the program and the test-bed units a few years before. Got himself into more than one verbal argument with the brass, and should have been shipped out, but he was right when the first models killed their pilots and caused a hell of a mess in a civilian sector when the Vanguards exploded after they crashed."

"The resulting argument got so bad he actually punched the Prime Minister, instead of having him shot, we got word that Grand Pa had him transferred to Black Ops so not to lose his...talents as it were. And here he is, shouting orders and also being more than willing to be on a ground assignment."

Gascogne then spoke.

"He's got issues with women?"

Marcus turned and replied with a sigh.

"He, like me and the others are from Tarak, what did you expect? I still don't like the idea of working with women, but I'm a realist as well, I saw how those Harvesters fight and saw the reports from my men on the ground, so they're the real threat so I have no problems working with you as long as you don't suddenly stab me and my boys in the back."

Gascogne smiled at that and replied.

"We'll try to avoid doing that Captain."

"That remains to be seen, come on, you wanted to see more of the ship right?"

...

The group noted that the ship was rather large and for the Spartans it seemed that the ship was actually mirroring the Halcyon Class Cruisers of the UNSC. The honeycomb designs were common in the UNSC Cruiser line as this gave it remarkable hull integrity and as well as structural strength. This was why the Halcyons were brought back into service instead of being scrapped since the days of the war with the Covenant. The most recognized was the Pillar of Autumn for what it had done in the Fall of Reach as well as the events that eventually led to the fall of the Covenant.

The design was complimented by the fact that the material seemed to be made from a highly durable metal that seemed to mirror titanium though it had a more sand like colour than the regular colour of the said metal. There was a possibility that the men of Tarak were using a composite alloy to make the Titan as there was something different about the alloy itself in the ideas of the Spartans as well as the members of the Nirvana crew.

Marcus said nothing about it and there was a reason for his silence regarding this. The Titan was made from the same metal that made the majority of the Tarak Navy ships, but the metal on those ships were the less expensive mass production type. The metal that made the hull and super structure of the Titan however was the prototype alloy itself, and as such was very powerful and resilient enough to allow the Titan to survive the battle with the Ruby Rapier with considerable damage without losing the majority of the armor plating as well as having it's super structure compromised.

This alloy was a state secret and was not used due to the expense and effort involved to make it viable as both construction material and ship armor plating. That was why the Tarak Navy used the less expensive version of the alloy. The alloy did give some level of protection but it had none of the tensile strength, temperature tolerance, and durability of the original alloy. The alloy itself was not invincible, but was twice as tolerant compared to the regular Tarak Ship alloy to damage and heat as well as energy.

Marcus had been given orders to field test the alloy in battle with the women once the Titan was brought out to fight with the women after the loss of the Ikazuchi and it's escort fleet. And now it had proven itself to be the best form of protection that could be placed on ships that would soon be fielded by the Tarak Navy Though he had doubts that it could be possible.

The Titan's Wrath also had a number of other surprises but he was not going to reveal them all just yet, even to his new and no doubt reluctant allies.

John and the other Spartans had a private conversation through their COM systems and decided that they should record all that they could and then have the visual data analyzed once they got back to the Nirvana. It would be helpful to them and it could actually help them get an idea on what the men of Tarak had been developing in secret.

It was not long before they came to what appeared to the titan's main training facility for the men who lived and worked in the massive vessel.

...

The males of the Titan's infantry contingent was currently running through an intense training regime with a number of them fighting one another in close quarters combat drills and also knife combat drills as well, there were also sprinting drills as well to test the men in terms of endurance and agility. The difference between them and the raw recruits of the Ikazuchi was evident to the women of the Nirvana as they watched the men train with a focus that was a bit disturbing and only matched by the Spartan IIs and the Spartan IIIs in their own training.

John, Fred and Kelly looked at that part of the course and wondered just how demanding that would be for them.

In another side of the training section were the training yards for the Sand Panther's sniper teams as they were working in the firing range with targets in different ranges with different conditions with some obstructions, drops and rises, fake explosions, and random wind and light conditions that would make things even more demanding for the snipers. Linda looked in appreciation at the training and decided to see just how demanding the course really was.

Kelly herself was also very interested to run the course at her full speed, the course didn't seem challenging at first but that was what she thought of her training the first time she tried it. She learned that heard way that things aren't always what they seemed and she had a feeling that she might end up getting the men less than happy.

So far in Magno's case, she could see that the men were not the kind that they were used to seeing and she wondered what kind of lives these men lived. Hearing from Duero, and Bart about them made her happy that they had been able to make the Alliance work in any case. The same could be said for the other women in the party. It was not long before the men in the training room looked and saw their guests, many of them frowned at the sight of the women but seeing that the Captain was there, they decided to ignore it.

Marcus guided them through the rest of the ship though he made sure that he was keeping them away from the R&D and weapon storage areas of the Titan. He did however show that the weapons of the Sand Panthers were above the norm of the rifles that were found on the arsenals of the men. There were a variety of Battle Rifles, Sniper Rifles, Shotguns, and more. This showed that the men had a very large arsenal to use in battle and the Tarak made Rifles that the Nirvana had in it's arsenal were the more basic ones.

The high tech models that Marcus did allow them to see where actually rather impressive. There was a specially made Sniper Rifle nick named by the Sand Panthers as the 'Gentle Whisper'. This weapon was actually made like the ONI used Hard Sound Rifle. It used some form of crystal shard network that actually had the ability to focus, shape, and amplify sound waves. This meant that the weapon actually had the power to silently kill targets by using sound as a projectile.

It was in essence a Sonic Sniper Rifle and was a deadly tool as like the Hard Sound Rifle it could kill targets without inflicting any wounds. The 'bullet' formed from the sound would actually rupture blood vessels, rip apart organs, and tear into the muscle tissues of the target. And it would not leave any trace of residue and impact on the target at all. So far it seemed that it was the only weapons that the men of the Titan's Wrath were shown to them, but The Nirvanas group had a feeling that there was more in the arsenal of the Sand Panthers and this meant that there on Tarak was a type of crystal that could be best described as Sonic Resonance enhancing Crystals.

They also did show that their armor was also given a good deal of upgrades as the body armor was actually somewhat light weight despite the appearance from before yet made to have dense armor plating with few areas for grappling for CQC combat, something that the men seemed more comfortable with. It also had sensors and communications gear placed in as well as some sort of first aid system that helped dull pain and prevent serious injuries until medical personnel arrived. There were also variants of the Armor, the ones for frontline combat use, the ones for engineers which focused more on mobility and utility than frontline combat, medical personnel which meant it carried more medical supplies than weapons, and the last variant was for pilots as well.

They did not have Power Armor by any standard, but the fact that they were able to create light weight but effective body armor meant that they had a good deal of knowhow on how to make body armor that was cheap compared to Power Armor yet effective for their needs. In some ways there was a chance that Tarak had some rare metals not found in the regular manner and as such were used differently to form the Sand Panther's infantry body armor but no doubt was expensive so it was issued for frontline use. And it was considered that when the pirates attacked the men on the Ikazuchi in the past, none of them wore Body Armor to begin with.

This was where Marcus introduced the women to Armor-smith Kei Lorzo, he like Travis had been considered a renegade who had advocated the development of infantry body armor but had been shot down because of the politicians who cared more for their advancement than their fellow men. He had made quite a mess out of that and demanded that they should focus not just on cranking out soldiers but giving them good protection as well. This told Magno and the others that the man believed in the idea of having numbers and superior technology on their side.

He too was shut down but apparently had been taken in to the Black Ops research groups to shut him up. But he instead created the Body Armor that was no doubt being field tested and seen if it could be indeed sent for frontline use.

The short haired blonde male looked at the Spartans' MJOLNIR Power Armor and began to wonder just how powerful those really but shelved those away as he went back to work as he looked over the records that had been given to him. This showed that the men of Tarak made a habit of recording their battles to gather technical and real time data which in the minds of the Nirvana crew was pretty impressive.

They also saw that the men's supplies were what one would expect from the desert world, simple and easy to use. They rationed just about everything they had on hand, ammunition, paper, water, food pills, everything. It was odd to the women but after getting to know the men's way of living from Bart, Duero, and Hibiki they kept any opinions they had to themselves as they saw that the men were more than able to do heavy work in a way that would have made most women turn away in disgust.

...

So far there was no doubt that the Titan's Wrath was a completely different ship and was going to be a deadly foe if it was able to face off with the Ruby Rapier in battle. The same could be said for their infantry and Vanguard forces as well after the crew were done looking them over. This also reinforced to Magno that having the men and women of both Tarak and Megele fighting side by side instead of going at each other's throats was their best course of action. But convincing the rest of the people on said worlds was not going to be easy no matter how many times she and the others talked about it.

As soon as they were done, the women of the Nirvana as well as their Spartan escorts were going back to the shuttle and fly back to the Nirvana as they knew that they were going to be visiting the women of the Ruby Rapier soon enough and they knew that it was going to be a very interesting on that side of the deck in this alliance.

The only question was if they could bring some of the Titan's men into the Ruby Rapier so they could at least see the differences between their military and that of the women. That was not going to be an easy thing to do in any case and it was going to be tense, just as their arrival had been when the men saw women on their ship and the same women who had taken the Ikazuchi as well.

This Alliance was still new so they were going to have to get ready for anything else that would arise so if and when they did come back to Tarak and Megele, the alliance will be a great deal stronger and could be seen as a true alliance.

...

To be continued...

...

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the delay, too many ideas tend to clog up my brain so I had to revise some areas of this story to make up for the delay and the loss of track on this story.

Okay...no battle scenes yet that were the trademark of this series, but that is to be expected as we are having the alliance between Tarak and Megele being the focus and how the crew of the Nirvana, the Titan's Wrath, and the Ruby Rapier deal with the need to work together after the previous battle that they all took part in.

Now keep in mind that the crew of the Titan happen to be nothing like the raw recruits of the Ikazuchi, as you might have read, they are all elite soldiers who have received intense training and actually have been trained in very difficult conditions in battle which was why they are named the way they are.

I will show those conditions at a later chapter but not today, on the next chapter, we are going to have the women of the Nirvana as well as some of the men of Tarak as well as the Spartans see the Ruby Rapier in order to be fair to both sides of the coin and as such, expect things to be interesting on the side of the women. Also I am going to be working on making the first moves in what would be described as...tentative relationships. As to who the new couples will be, that is still going to be up for debate, what I can say is that the Spartan IIs will have their own partners and so will the Spartan IIIs.

The conclusion of Jura and Fred's duel will be seen at the next chapter as well

And if anyone asks when the UNSC Battle Group will make their appearance in the VanDread universe, they will be seen in that universe soon enough. Another chapter after the Megele side will focus on the development of the new Power Armor suits that will be seen in battle once again and this will also be the time that the two groups will be pitted in a test against one another. It will not be in a lethal setting, but more of a war games kind of situation so no deaths will be in it, though you can bet that some attempts will be made to make the situation more interesting.

After these chapters that have no action as far, I will get to the chapter arc that will be the most demanding of my time in getting this story back to it's feet and also updating several other fics.

And for those readers eager to know the status of Cortana after she and the Chief did the deed more than once...

Yes...Cortana WILL be pregnant in the coming chapters and she will be having children so John will indeed be a father. And on the question on the children having abilities like their parents, then the answer is yes, they will indeed have special abilities due to the genes they inherit from their parents.

But that will only be seen in the ending and not right now.

Here's a scene of what to expect when Cortana finally gives birth...

...

In the Medical Bay...

John had faced many dangerous threats in his long life, from the time of his training, his augmentations, the battles with the Insurrectionists, the Covenant, the Flood, and the rampant Forerunner A.I Guilty Spark. And he had survived many battles that would have broken others and even would have emotionally challenged the other Spartans.

But all of that did not compare to the sight of the little baby who was now sleeping in his arms. The little boy was wrapped in a soft cloth blanket and sleeping soundly despite the fact that he was wearing his MJOLNIR, minus his helmet. The emotions he felt were hard to control, he felt fear for Cortana and their first born son when she came to labour, he felt anxiety when Cortana and their child was wheeled away for recovery, he felt restless when he paced back and forth hoping for news of their situation...and now he felt...

Joy, joy to not only see that both were fine, but they were healthy and recovering well. He sat next to Cortana who was now awake and smiling at both him and their son who snuggled into his father's arms, unmindful of the armor his father wore. John looked at his son, marvelling at the way his son looked and how he seemed to be utterly at peace with him and his mother.

Dr. Halsey, Duero, Flowing Chapter, and Paiway checked the baby as well as Cortana and announced that they were all healthy and fine. And they soon allowed John to stay with Cortana and their son.

Cortana spoke gently as she touched their son's sleeping face.

"He's so much like you."

"I know...it's hard to believe we...have a son."

"Yeah...well then, I guess we're going to have to get ready for being parents...so...what should we call our son?"

John already had a name in mind.

"Samuel...we'll call him Samuel."

Cortana smiled at that and replied.

"That's a good name."

John then gently handed Samuel to his mother, the baby stirred a bit as he was taken into his mother's arms, but he quickly relaxed and snuggled up to his mother. Cortana smiled warmly at her first born and kissed him gently on the forehead and then kissed John deeply. Once they parted from the kiss, John looked at Cortana as she began to sing a lullaby to their child and found himself enjoying the scene.

It was here that Dita entered along with Jura, Meia, Hibiki, and the other Spartans, all three Dread pilots were quiet so to not disturb the sleeping baby as they looked at him. Dita was pleased and called the baby cute, Jura likewise agreed as she was amazed that a male child would look so nice to the eyes, Meia gave her congratulations as well.

Linda then spoke to the others.

"Looks like Maria isn't the only Spartan to get married this time around."

Kelly nodded with a smirk and gave her own thoughts on the matter.

"I guess we're going to have to get used to the idea of a baby body one day calling us uncles and aunts, Aunt Linda and Aunt Kelly kind of has a nice ring to it. Though I think that if and when the kid starts calling Fred, Uncle Fred, I'm going to bust a gut."

Fred shook his head without any negative thoughts and replied.

"This is going to be one of those days."

...

And yes, this WILL appear in the coming chapters.

As for Dita and Hibiki...well, that remains to be seen.

...

See you on the soon to come chapters in the New Year!


	13. Chapter 14

VanDread Halo The Second Stage

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to VanDread or Halo…so I hope that it stays that way…

Chapter

Part 2

Alliance in progress…

( ): Thoughts

…

In the void of space…

The Nirvana along with the Ruby Rapier and the Titan's Wrath were moving through space and it seemed that the two ships were not reaching the stage of being rebuilt. The Nirvana naturally had to serve as security detail for the two other shops to make sure that the Harvesters didn't suddenly appear and attack them with their proverbial pants down.

At the moment in the Nirvana, the crew was taking the time to rest and relax a bit but they were also wary to possibly be attacked. The Nirvana's Infantry Teams were currently taking the time to rest in rotations while they took the time to check their gear and weapons. They did this out of habit now and also as a need to make sure that if they needed to use their weapons they were all going to be in the best condition that they were in, yet another trait given to them by their Spartan commander, this also applied to their armor as well as the soon to be added gear.

Those of their group who were the ones who wore Parfait's Power Armor were also in the process of testing and checking the said suits to make sure that when they were going to be used they were going to work well. The engineers under the plucky tech genius were also hard at work not just with their regular duties in the ship but to also try and test some of the new ideas that involved the salvaged Forerunner technology and devices they had recovered.

…

In the Engineering Bay…

Parfait drank from a bottle as she smiled happily at the information, her love for technology already going on overtime as she read the files pertaining to the Teleportation technology used by the Forerunners. The idea of being able to teleport was something that she used to think was only in those cheesy movies she had seen as a kid though she had to admit that the idea was tempting. But now before her was actual data on how it could be accomplished in record time and also how it can be used and developed.

The possibilities were endless and she was in gear-head heaven and began to think about how this technology could be used in their fight with the Harvesters.

As she placed down the drink, she sighed and began to stretch her back and arms a bit, groaning when she heard her stiff joints creak a bit.

"Oh dear…I really need to loosen up."

"Perhaps I can help?"

Parfait turned and was pleasantly surprised to see Duero there, she smiled at the doctor and spoke to him.

"Greetings there Duero, what are you doing here?"

Duero smiled a bit and answered the engineer's question.

"I came here to see how you were doing, I was about to call you but I saw the intense way you were looking at the data before you."

Parfait laughed a bit and gently scratched her head as she replied.

"Sorry, but it's all so fascinating! Actual teleportation technology, and more besides…these Forerunners are truly amazing Duero…there's so much to do so I am not surprised I'm like this right now."

Duero nodded and walked over to her and she was curious what he was about to do and asked him that exact question.

"What are you going to do?"

"Give you a massage, you need to loosen up a bit before you adversely affect your health Parfait."

"Oh…all right."

Duero did just that as he began to massage Parfait's neck and shoulders, and already his expert hands had an effect on the engineer. He could feel her muscles begin to loosen up and the tension in them began to slacken. That was a good thing as he used his fingers and hands to continue with his treatment, unaware that while his actions were to help Parfait relax, he was doing something to the brown haired teen, but not in a bad way.

(Mmmm…feels nice.)

Parfait felt the tension and stiffness in her body fade away and that was wonderful, however she began to feel something else flowing into her body as well. There was a feeling of warmth and awareness as she felt Duero's fingers and pals moving over her skin and it was sending her some very strange signals. Her heart began to beat a bit faster and her body began to get a bit warmer. She had no idea why her body was suddenly reacting like this to Duero's touch, but she was not going to complain, she liked Duero as he was quite a doctor and would be an excellent engineer, plus he was a very good friend to her ever since they all began to travel in order to go back to their respective home planets.

Duero then spoke to Parfait, seeing that she was beginning to relax.

"How do you feel now Parfait?"

"Mmmm…really good…thank you Duero, I feel a lot better now."

"All right then, I am pleased that you are relaxing a lot more. Do you want me to continue until you feel much better?"

Parfait nodded without any hesitation and spoke with the pleasure of her massage evident in her voice.

"Please do."

…

The Nirvana's officers, including the Master Chief and those among his fellow Spartans who went with Magno to see the situation in the Tarak ship known as the Titan's Wrath were back in the Nirvana, and were currently in the conference room. The things they had seen on the ship of the men, had told them something of the hidden talents of the men when it came to technology, which was impressive in it's very own right. Magno herself was also very much curious just why the technology on the Titan was not being used in the whole of the Tarak fleet though she guessed that the sheer expense of making the Titan itself would make the idea very expensive.

Naturally some of the areas of the ship were kept a secret and while she had indeed some files pertaining to the sections of Tarak design that were part of the Nirvana in the initial raid so long ago, she knew that they could not rely on the data itself anymore. Thus far she was hoping that with more time, the men of the Titan's Wrath would develop the idea of being able to work civilly with women, she knew that it was a thought that was constantly in her mind, and was stressing her out. This would not be good to her health, but to be perfectly honest with herself, there was far too much going on and at stake for her to worry about her health.

It was here that she decided that it would be a good idea to allow the men from Tarak to also see how the women actually lived and worked so there would be some understanding there. And she made that idea known to the others in order to see just how they would see that idea.

"I think that we should at least allow the men of Tarak to see how the women of Megele operate by allowing them on the Ruby Rapier. I can bet that this might pose some security issues so I decided to allow you all to be the first to know so you can tell me if this is a viable option."

Mendez who arrived earlier to speak to John was the first to reply.

"Personally speaking Captain, I would recommend that you look for the more open minded of the men to be the representatives. I can bet that if we don't do that, the men of Tarak might very well say something that could be misinterpreted by the women onboard their ship."

Buzam nodded as well.

"I agree with Senior Chief Mendez, we can't exactly expect this to go well, we were lucky that Marcus was willing to listen to us and allowed us to see their ship, even if they denied us access to the more critical areas of the Titan's Wrath. I do not know if we can say the same for our fellow women Captain. Besides, there's no doubt in my mind that if we are not careful, the Ruby Rapier's crew might very well try to use this as a chance to saw that we've been brainwashed by the men and are now traitors the very second we return to Megele."

Magno nodded as both of them gave very solid arguments, it was thankful that Marcus was a bit more open minded than the others, but there was no telling about their fellow women who were onboard the Ruby Rapier and how they would take to having men on their vessel. But it would be worth a try if they at least were able to find some of the Titan's crew who were more open minded to being in the ship to begin with, this was why she decided to contact Marcus once more and ask if it was possible that he would allow some of his crew to come with them into the Rapier under their watch to at least allow them to see what it was like for the women of Megele as well.

Once that was accomplished, she would contact Cassandra and see if it was possible to arrange for the men to see the ship. She naturally would have to make sure that she would do her best to keep Cassandra aware of the situation and remind her to keep herself and her crew calm. That was not going to be easy since the men and women had recently tried to kill each other and this made Magno wonder if what she had in mind was too fast and too risky to attempt.

With that done, she decided to get to work as soon as the meeting was over, for now they were going to take a day off to make sure that there would be enough time that would pass to make things a lot calmer around the small fleet that they were part of. The others nodded and headed back to their own duties, the Spartans headed off to get themselves some time to either train once more or check their gear while the others had their own duties.

…

In the Engineering Bay…

Parfait was feeling a lot more relaxed after being given such a wonderful massage by Duero, and while she knew that he needed to be in the Medical Bay to deal with the daily workload for the crew of the ship, she found herself wishing for another chance to feel his hands on her body. She then began to think strange things concerning Duero that somehow began to get a bit too personal for her liking and was quick to blush at some of those very same thoughts.

She placed that aside as soon as she was able to do so and get back to her work, though she did wonder just why she had those feelings. Sure she and Duero had worked together for a very long time and they were good friends, but something like that should not be possible between men and women after all…right?

…

In the Medical Bay…

Unknown to Parfait she was not the only one being affected by the close contact that she and Duero had together as the young man in question was also busy trying to figure out thoughts of his own. When he got back to the Medical Bay, Duero wondered why was it that he was thinking about doing the same massage as before to Parfait just to…he could not describe the feelings at this moment as they seemed totally off to him. From a medical standpoint, there was no reason for him to go back and give Parfait another massage since the one he had given already was more than enough.

But there was still a part of him, an unfamiliar yet strangely natural part that seemed to want him to go ahead and go back to Parfait and give her a massage once again. This time however, the idea of massaging the petite brunette engineer was accompanied by other thoughts that also confused him.

He however placed those thoughts aside for now as he went back to work, he would find answers to his questions at a much later date so there was no reason for him to be asking anyone yet. Though he decided to ask those who had been used to hanging around women for a much longer period since they might be able to provide him the answers that he felt that he seriously needed to figure out what he had been feeling for Parfait just recently.

…

In the rest of the ship, many of the Talvernian volunteers were busy getting ready for their own shifts as well as going on routine patrols. Since there were more Vanguards than Dreads, the Talvernians took to using these machines for their patrols than the Dreads themselves. They also would supplement the security patrols in the Nirvana as well when they were in need of extra hands. The rest of the crew were busy on their own needs for the day with Meia still working on keeping the Dread pilots in training with the Dread simulation pods as well as getting used to their new flight suits/armor as well as weapons of their own. Dita on the other hand was once more busy trying to get closer to Hibiki and Misty was not far behind as well and it was natural to see the two of them arguing over him. The young man in question was busy getting some time off from the two ladies in question but was not having an easy time of that as well, but at the very least he was getting used to it.

Bart was still busy getting time in for training with the Nirvana to make sure that he was up to speed on how to fly it as well as operate the guns better for which many of the crew were thankful for as this was going to be good news. Gascogne was also busy doing some inventory work in the Register, moving the critical supplies they needed up front for immediate use while checking the bare essentials for their forces in the ship as well as the Dreads and Vanguards. She also took the time to inventory the supplies and parts they had for the UNSC vehicles and aircraft that they were using to supplement their own forces in battle,. She and the Register girls were also doing some inventory work with their food supplies as well as medical so they would be up to the standard. They also worked on all the Forerunner salvage that they were able to get from the Dreadnaught and make sure that all of them were properly stored and secured to make sure that nothing bad was going to happen to the salvage in question. They were very careful with the said salvage as well as this was indeed actual alien technology and none of them wanted to do anything that would either destroy or accidentally activate them.

Buzam herself went back to her duties in monitoring the area of space to see what was going on and if the Harvesters showed up. She knew that their victories were not going to sit well with their enemies and sooner or later, there was going to be serious retaliation towards them all so being prepared was a must. As for Chief Mendez, he went back to training the Spartan IIs and Spartan IIIs while Dr. Halsey went back to the Medical Bay and planned a trip to the storage

…

In a room…

John was currently bare of his MJOLNIR and had it stored away in a special storage locker, and he was wearing basic UNSC fatigues and currently reading up on some of the reports that he got from the Nirvana's Infantry Platoon NCOs. It was needed since he was their commanding officer and he had to make sure that all of them were in good health in both body and mind. The last thing any officer leading a force needed were members of his or her own unit being unfit for duty due to different reasons when something important was about to go down.

It was here also that Cortana came in and walked over to him and hugged him a bit from behind. The Spartan did not have a problem with that display of affection as he turned around and smiled a bit at Cortana, who smiled back and spoke to him.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better I guess, the reports show that everyone in the Platoon is all right and taking a break every now and then so that should not be too much of a concern. But I have no doubts that we are going to be very busy soon if the Captain decides to make the move of having the men of the Titan go into the ship of the women from her home-world."

Cortana had no problems agreeing with that assessment from the Spartan as she could see just where he was going with this. However, she did have a concern on her mind, lately she had been feeling a bit…different and while it was not threatening on her, she was still trying to get used to this faint but ever present feeling that came on recently.

That state was detected rather easily by John and he was quickly concerned by what was wrong with Cortana.

"You all right Cortana?"

"I…I feel fine, though I do have to admit that there is a part of me that feels a bit off though not in a bad way."

"You want to be checked out by Dr. Halsey and Duero at some point when you have no other duties to take care of? Maybe they can figure out what seems to be going on."

Cortana nodded and she kissed John gently on the lips, showing that she was happy for her lover's concern for her. The thought of John being a lover, friend, and someone she trusted deeply was something she treasured even though he could be a bit dense sometimes when the situation was confusing for him.

The Spartan then responded to the kiss and it was not long before the kiss became more passionate and soon the two of them were deeply kissing once another. Once the two of them parted from one another, it was not long before they were in the grip of the same feelings that they had when they had sex for the first time in their lives. That was when John decided to lock down the door and it was not long before the two were at it once more, though John made sure to be careful not to hurt Cortana since he wanted to make sure that she was going to be all right.

The former A.I smiled as she began to remove John's clothing, there was no telling if and when he was going to be called back into his duty so she had every intention to make the most of it. And it seemed that John was quick to catch on and even agree with her as he began to remove her clothing as well, much to her amusement and delight.

…

A few hours later…

Magno was pleased that she was finally able to get things smoothed over between Marcus and Cassandra on allowing a small band of men from the Titan to board and tour the Rapier. It had not been easy, as she suspected, as Cassandra balked at the idea of having men on her ship, even more so since the men were the ones who had nearly trashed and ruined said ship at the same time. It took some creative words and diplomacy to finally convince the young woman to let this happen, though naturally there were some demands that they had to make to allow it to even happen in the first place.

The first demand was the hardest to do, the men were to be unarmed and watched by Cassandra's soldiers. The second was that the men were not going to be allowed in areas of the Rapier that she and her own officers had deemed off limits, any attempt by the men to break that would be met with force. The third was that the men had to be subjected to the decontamination process BEFORE they were to meet the women and as such had to be ushered into the Rapier's decontamination facility.

All three were understandable in the mind of the elderly woman but she had no doubt that the men were NOT going to be the least bit amused with what the women wanted from them.

When she presented these demands to Marcus, he raised an eyebrow at that and asked just what were the women on the Ruby Rapier thinking of asking his men to be disarmed, though he did agree that it made some sense. However his other officers were LESS than welcoming and stated that the women could take their demands and shove it down their throats. That was not well received by Magno and the rest of her pirate crew but she kept her cool and replied that her pirates were going to be their escorts or if they wanted, they could have the Spartans and some of the male Talvernians as escorts.

That was something that seemed to calm down the men somewhat and it was when they tackled the two other demands of the Ruby Rapier's crew. The second was understandable and Marcus agreed that since the pirates HAD not asked too many questions and pocked their noses into areas that he deemed off limits, he and his men would do the same for the women. And he made sure to promise that on his honor as a man. Due to her experiences with Bart, Hibiki, and Duero who were in her mind good men, Magno agreed with that, much to the surprise of the men in the Titan's Conference Room.

The third and final demand confused the men at first until Magno explained just what the women did to decontaminate people. The second they heard that the women used cold water to clean away what they considered contaminants from a person's body, the men asked how much water was used. They blew a gasket when they heard just how much water was used and that was surprising to the women of the Nirvana's pirate crew. The next was the way the men called it a waste of precious water and energy.

Back then she and the others would have been confused until they realized that since they came from a desert world, the men saw water as being more precious than gold. This was something that they all learned from the Tarak men they had on their own ship as there were times that Hibiki, Bart, and Duero would comment on how wasteful they were at times with their own water. This was actually something that made Magno smile as she knew just how wasteful her people were and having the men mention that might be something that could have an effect on the women.

It took more talking and convincing but it finally was over as several men, some from the technician, soldier, pilot, and engineering groups on the Titan agreed to the demands. Magno was relieved by that and quickly informed the Spartans of their duty in escorting the men of the Titan though some were curious why it took a bit longer for John to show up once the call was made. Naturally the Spartan was rather tight lipped about it and his friends did not press the issue though Kelly seemed to have a thought in mind on what could be the reason for John being slightly tardy.

This time however, the Spartans included Team Katana as Tom and Lucy were currently taking care of Ezra and Kahlua as she had asked them to help her for a while. Both Spartan IIIs were more than willing to do so and as such, Cade was currently in command of his team alongside the Spartan IIs who were there, including John himself who was eager to get things on the road.

The Spartan II and IIIs were not visibly armed but if there was one thing Spartans were known for, its being more dangerous than any weapon. The weapons they used were merely extensions of their own skills so they were more dangerous even if not armed with a weapon to fight with in battle. They were currently escorting a small security detail from the Nirvana's security teams as they were the only women who were going to be allowed the use of weapons on the rapier, even if they were still labeled as pirates.

The group soon left the Nirvana as they were all in a Megele shuttle from the Nirvana with the Tarak shuttle the men came in being in the Nirvana for security reasons. And as soon as they were in the Hanger of the Ruby Rapier after being given clearance, there were a number of armed women waiting for them. These women were armed with the same suits as before but these seemed to have slightly larger and denser sections of armor plating on them. And they were carrying the same Megele Laser Rifles as before, though these were not armed with selector switches to make them have stun abilities. The Hanger Bay was similar to the ones on the Megele side of the Nirvana which would show that despite being a military vessel, the Ruby Rapier was designed to suit the women's taste in aesthetics.

The Spartans however noted that the areas of the hanger were currently overseeing repairs as technicians and engineers who wore the same clothing as Parfait's staff moved about. However, unlike the crew that he had worked with for some time, he could sense a tense and very wary atmosphere around him and the others, even the members of the Nirvana delegation were not that comfortable in the Ruby Rapier.

It was understandable in his mind as the women of the Nirvana were pirates and no doubt had some close calls with the military of Megele. As for the men and himself as well as his fellow Spartans, it was expected with the former being the life long enemies of the crew and them being totally unknown to the women at large. It was not long before the men were taken away to be decontaminated and while the women of the Ruby Rapier would have loved to be the ones to do it, they could not as Magno convinced Cassandra to let the men clean themselves…though under the watch of her security forces as a compromise of sorts.

Once that was over and done with, the tour was now well underway…and already the men were complaining at how the water could have been used in a more prudent fashion. Kelly mentioned in a private conversation that she had a feeling that this was going to be the theme for the rest of the tour as soon as the men began to see the rest of the ship. John couldn't help but agree with Kelly's assessment, this was going to be a very long day.

…

As they moved through the place, Linda mentioned that she was starting to miss the old lines and geometric build of UNSC ships, and John had no problem understanding why that was the case for his friend. The Nirvana was melded with the dawn so there was some UNSC influence on the ship in terms of appearance, but the Ruby Rapier was definitely different. It was designed to look roomy and seemed to have bright but soothing colors, there was also some scent in the air that was nice to the nose…at least from what their MJOLNIR's sensors were able to detect. There was no doubt that the smell was air freshener and from the smell of it, had a pine and flower mix of some sort. And while it was nice smelling to the women and acceptable to John and his fellow Spartans, it was utterly alien to the men of the Titan's Wrath who were trying to figure out what the smell was for and if it was toxic.

The men were quick to reach for something to cover their mouth and nose but decided not to do so since they were not feeling any symptoms associated with poisoning. But their reactions were not lost to the women of the Ruby Rapier as they seemed utterly amused and gave the men amused and sneering looks. John and the others saw that but it seemed that the men did not react too badly. Apparently Marcus had made the effort of selecting only the most skilled and open minded of his crew…as far as open mindedness went of course in this case. Still as they moved through the ship the Spartan IIs had no problem hearing how the men were reacting to the ship.

They were confused by a lot of things and wondered just why the women were so wasteful of their resources and energy for such things. Naturally the women steered them away from the galley, no doubt not wanting their food to be 'contaminated' as it were by the men even if they had been decontaminated already. The whisperings of the men became a lot more animated this time around though the Spartans ignored that as they looked at the women in the Ruby Rapier to understand just how this faction of the Megele military operated. So far they were armed with light weight but very high tech body armor suits that indeed focused more on agility and speed than defense and raw force which was more in line with the men themselves.

So far the Dreads of the women that they had already seen were the same as that of the women of the Nirvana though the military variants seemed to be heavier and better armored…at least from that they were able to see. This meant that the military focused on defensive technology a bit more when it came to their fighters even of they used the very same systems as the Dreads of the pirates. No doubt the engines of the said Dreads were better and more expensive to counter the increased armor plating of the Dreads as well as their own shield technology.

Their choice of weapons was still like that of the pirates though the Spartans noted that they carried more conventionally shaped weapons for battle though more intricately designed than that of the women. There also appeared be some other types of weapon designs on the women though John , Kelly, Linda, and the others of Team Katana had a feeling that they were able to use Lasers as the basis of attack. The Spartans saw some shotgun style variants as well as some military grade service rifles that were laser based as they moved through the ship though they naturally were steered clear of the armories and engineering areas of the ship as well as the supply areas…it was not long before they all arrived at the botanical garden in the ship itself and it appeared to have not suffered any damage from the battle itself.

The women of the Ruby Rapier were very happy with the small but well made garden in their ship as this reminded them of home. The pirates from the Nirvana were at least pleased to see the garden and the Spartans had to admit that the place looked cozy. UNSC stations had gardens and plants there to give some semblance of beauty and give it a somewhat homey feel.

However…the men from Talark were LESS than pleased as they looked at the place, and they were more than willing to make that dislike known.

"WHAT THE HELL?"

"THIS IS WRONG!"

"WHY ARE THEY WASTING SO MUCH WATER?"

The crew of the Ruby Rapier who were well within hearing range were deeply shocked at the way the men were acting and they were naturally not the least bit happy with the way the men seemed to looking down on them as well as their ship. The Spartans were silent but they could tell that this was a disaster waiting to happen, it was here that one of the women officers, who John recognized was the same woman that got slapped in the face from before and the one who had commented in an insulting tone towards him.

The woman was quick to stand before Darrel and glared at the Talark officer and spoke in an angry tone.

"What the heck is your problem?"

Darrel glared and replied.

"What's my problem? My problem is the utterly idiotic way you women waste resources! You have any idea how much water your little garden is taking up for no reason?"

The woman was furious and John was able to see the name tag on her uniform was Dana and despite not knowing her exact rank, the rose with the two stars in it might signify a Master Sergeant though it was mostly guess work on his part since he had no idea on what the ranking was in the Megele Army. He could see that the dark haired woman was not going to take this in any stretch of the imagination easily and he quickly stepped ion before things got way out of hand.

"That is enough."

The woman glared at the Master Chief briefly but backed away as the Chief glared back, she was not the only one as Darrel looked at the Spartan tensely for a moment or two before moving his gaze away for John. The other Spartan IIs along with the IIIs minus Fred were also looking carefully at the situation, ready to make a move if things went down south.

It took a long time before the whole situation was ironed out and a possible disaster did not happen in the ship itself. The tour continued and sure enough the women of the Megele warship were doing their best to keep the men from the Titan from going to places that they felt was off limits. The good news for the Spartans as well as the Nirvana's security detail, there was no other major incident though it was understandable that the men were still less than pleased with the things that they were seeing on the ship.

The Master Chief wondered if there was ever going to be a time when the women of the Ruby Rapier will also tour the Titan's Wrath on their own. The crew of the Nirvana were the ones who were on the ship and what they had learned was useful, and he had no doubt that Magno would be interested to show to her fellow women of Megele how things were for the men of Tarak. He doubted that the women were going to be impressed and he could easily see the reactions of the women in question once they were on the ship of the men.

It was not long before the tour was over and like in the Titan's Wrath, they were able to meet Cassandra who was more than willing to show the virtues of her ship and her crew, as well as the technology of her people. No doubt it was a veiled attempt to rub salt on the men but to John's relief the men seemed to be able to keep cool. No doubt after that incident from before and the fact that he and the Spartans were there the men were not going to risk getting their attention on them as well.

As they escorted the men back to the Nirvana which was where the men's own shuttle was waiting for them, the Master Chief felt that things were going to be interesting if and when the women were able to set foot in the Titan if and when Magno convinced them to be there. There was a chance that they men were going to do something similar to the women and he hoped that Magno could be able to find a solution to that then the time came. If that did happen, he planned to be there to give the elderly Captain any needed medication if the women and the men were going to do something that was going to make Magno's life hard.

It was here the Linda spoke.

"I wonder what Fred is doing?"

John looked at Linda and replied to her question.

"I have no doubt that he is fine right now, he was training with his Combat Knives in the gym last I saw him before we suited up and left for the Titan."

…

In the gym…

Jura sighed a bit as she drank the water from her bottle and looked to her right to see the other Spartan, the one named Fred who was currently sitting nearby. She smiled a bit and took out another bottle of water and offered it to him.

"You want a drink?"

Fred looked at the blonde woman and raised an eyebrow at the offer, but he was not going to turn it down as he was a bit thirsty. He reached out and took the bottle and gave his thanks.

"Thank you miss."

Jura smiled a bit and replied.

"I do have a name you know, it's Jura, Jura Basil Elden."

"Oh, sorry but I don't feel that asking you by your real name is appropriate."

The blonde Dread pilot was a bit confused by that and made that clear to Fred as she replied.

"Why? We're very much allies right now so I hardly think that we need to be this formal."

Fred then replied seriously.

"It's not that I do not see you as an ally or anything, but I don't think that speaking to one another on a first name basis is a good idea."

Jura did not like that, but she then recalled what she had been able to learn about the Spartans and how they were raised when they were young. They were military through and through while she was not and that would be the case between her and Fred as well. She sighed and then replied to his comments.

"All right then, I guess we could at least take time to work together before you and I can speak to one another on a less formal basis. I might not be in the military like you and the Chief, but we are allies either way, that sound all right with you?"

Fred thought it over and decided that there was nothing to lose by being more friendly with the pirates, and this blonde female pirate in general so why not? John himself seemed to be on good terms with them so it would not be bad for him to at least try.

"All right."

Jura smiled a bit, feeling that it was a good victory for now no matter how small, she then commented once more.

"You really know how to fight with a Knife, I've never seen moves like those before in my life and I'm the best or rather the only sword user here on the ship."

Fred shrugged and replied.

'I trained with Knives a lot and I feel more at ease with them."

Jura nodded in agreement to that and spoke to him.

"You're pretty good, like I said, I have never saw knife work like that before, and no doubt ever will."

"You're good with a sword, though it is hard to picture anyone using a sword in this day and age."

Jura took offense to that as she prided herself in her skill with the sword. This was something of an oddity to the crew and to the other women in Megele who knew her. Many people only took swordsmanship just for exercise and for something to pass the time with. She on the other hand took her sword training seriously because she liked using swords and learning how to use them will, she was not adverse to using ranged weapons at all but found swords more elegant and challenging.

"And what is so wrong with me liking to use swords anyway?"

Fred was about to answer with several facts but quickly could tell that the blonde woman was not very pleased with the things he had said earlier. Had this been a normal situation and he was back in the UNSC, he would not have hesitated, but this was hardly a normal situation, and she was an ally so there was nothing to be gained by being antagonistic.

"I didn't mean to be offensive about it, if that is what you want then I will not make an issue out of it."

Jura smiled and nodded at that as she looked at the time and sighed a bit.

"All right then, anyway, I have to take care of some other matters for now, thanks for giving me a workout though, if you want to spar again, give me a call."

With that done, the blonde Dread pilot moved away, but not before checking her sword for damage and nicks which Fred observed. He could see the way she would care for the weapon, meaning that it had significant value to the woman in the same way John held that coin close to him. As soon as she seemed satisfied with her visual inspection of her weapon, she moved away to head off to the rest of the ship.

Fred didn't know why but for some odd reason, he seemed to stare at the blonde's backside a bit longer than normal. He caught himself and wondered what was going on with that and decided to place that train of thought aside for now. He knew that he could at least speak to Chief Mendez or Dr. Halsey about this situation when he could not find an answer after all. As he placed his Knives away and headed to get some shut eye, he wondered just what was going on in the world he and the other UNSC left behind and he hoped that Humanity was at peace, though he doubted that it was going to be that simple.

…

Back in the Halo universe…

Battle Group Washington was now reaching the meeting point with the Reborn Covenant fleet that they were going to be working with, and most if not all the personnel were eager to get things underway. The technicians and support personnel were on full alert on all ships and were ready for anything. The group comprised of at least several Destroyers which numbered at least four, two wolf packs of Frigates numbering at last five in each number, along the Spirit of Fire which returned to it's role as ground support vessel, fleet tender, and a repair and re-supply vessel.

Captain Cutter was looking at the whole situation on the SOF's bridge and next to him was Jerome, the Spartan II leader of Red Team in his new MJOLNIR Mark VI, along with Professor Ellen Anders who took the role of science and technology advisor. The Captain was looking at the vast expanse of space and wondered just when their 'allies' were going to show up. He did not have to wait for too long as an incoming signal to hit the network as one of the bridge operators called it in.

"Captain, we have an incoming communiqué from the Reborn CCS Class Battle Cruiser Hunter of Lies. It's a fleet wide message so we're not the only ones getting it."

Captain Cutter nodded and replied.

"Bring it up."

Cutter moved to the holo-tank and spoke gently to himself.

"Let's see who we're going to be working with this time around."

The figure was indeed that of a Sangheili, but not the regular kind as the Armor would suggest. This Elite's armor looked ancient even by most Elite standards, but looked well maintained and furbished. There were Forerunner symbols on it and it was in a golden color, most people who were not very familiar with the culture of the old Covenant would not have recognized it now…but the UNSC personnel who had been in the War recognized it easily enough. Douglas was one of those said people along with Anders as the scientist and the Spartan were a bit tense even though Douglas' reaction was hidden by his armor and helmet as Ellen spoke.

"An Arbiter."

Cutter nodded at that as he knew what that rank meant in the culture of the Elites, an Arbiter had been the leader of the Covenant forces in the Harvest Campaign and had been the one who had kidnapped Ellen Anders before but he had been slain by Sgt. Forge with his own Energy Sword, but that one had worn silver Armor, unlike this one. Cutter then read the tag on the Elite and replied as he finally recognized just who was going to their ally in this hunt for the last of the Prophets.

"Not just any Arbiter…but the one who was with the Master Chief…Thel Vadam himself."

Douglas looked intently at the image and spoke out in a calm manner.

"So he was the one who stood with Squad Leader. Why is he the one leading the Fleet?"

Ellen then replied.

"We're about to find out it seems."

The Arbiter then spoke to them in his regal tone.

"Greetings to you of Battle Group Washington, we will be on the move to deal with the Eternal Covenant and stop them and their leader. We are honored to have your support in this assault to end the lies of the Prophets that yet live. I know that many of you have yet to feel that we are worthy of this alliance, for our roles in the war against your people, we will do everything we can to make amends for our dishonorable actions, even with our blood. This we swear on our ancestors and our people. "

As soon as it ended, the Reborn Covenant Fleet arrived, there was the CCS class Battle Cruiser along with several of the smaller ships that were in the Reborn Covenant a few Destroyers, three Frigates and a pair of Corvettes from the looks of things. To show their differences from the still fanatical Eternal Covenant, the Reborn retained the changed colors of their forces and also placed several key markings on all ships that were not related to the old Covenant. The Fleet was small and not as large as the Fleets of the past, but this fleet was still dangerous. The reason for the smaller Fleet sizes was the fact that when they separated, the technology of the Elites was limited as they were losing ships and forces to the Brutes when they pursued them. It had taken some time before the Elites began to recover and rebuild their power base. This was possibly only because they began to find ways to build their own ships and there were Huragok who were from Virgil who were willing to work with the Elites while under human supervision.

The Reborn fleet was now seen as allies, but it was not easy for the crew of the Spirit of Fire to get used to the idea of the Covenant being allies. They still recalled how they felt when facing a Covenant Fleet fresh out from Slipspace and it was not a good feeling. And witnessing what even a handful of Covenant ships could do to either a Battle Group or a planet left a bitter and fierce memory in them all.

Cutter placed that out of his mind and turned his attention to Jerome.

"Red Leader, if on the off chance that Arbiter…decides to board our ship, I want you and your team to keep an eye on him, he might not be a threat and an ally, but I would like it better that we've got eyes and ears on him at all times until he leaves."

"Sir!"

As the Spartan left, the Captain walked out from the bridge and headed off to the Cryo-bay and stopped at one Pod in particular and looked at the name there. He said nothing for a long time and it was here that one Dr. Anders appeared, she was still wearing her normal clothes and was now officially the Spirit of Fire's resident technology expert which made sense anyway./ The young woman then saluted Cutter and he gave a slight smile of amusement as he replied.

"If I were to recall Dr. Anders, you're not part of the military so why the salute?"

"Just figured I showed some decorum Captain, we've been through a lot already."

"I know."

Both Anders and Cutter turned to look at the pod and Anders spoke out with a sad yet slightly amused tone.

"I wonder what the Sergeant would say if he found out we not only won the war but are allied with the Elites?"

"He would not like it at all, he would probably go up to HIGH COM and shout out a storm for the idea in the first place and call it insane. If you want to ask me if I am going to have him tried in a court for insubordination, then I would have a hard time saying it, though I will no doubt give him an ear full for being a hard case."

Ander smiled a bit.

"Yeah, I bet you would…still, I miss him."

Cutter nodded as he and Anders left, revealing just who the Pod's resident was.

Sergeant John Forge UNSC Marine Corps…

…

In the Jacob Keyes…

The crew members of the Jacob Keyes in the Hanger Bays were busy with their work as technicians, along with Robotic Rovers and Huragok were moving about in their tasks. They were not alone as Marines and ODSTs were moving about in their own duties, everyone was focused and dedicated to their duties but they also took the time to socialize and relax as they were ready for that could be a decisive battle to stop the Eternal Covenant from rearing their ugly heads.

This did not escape the notice of the Sangheili who were disembarking from the Phantom Dropship and they nodded in approval. Though it had taken a lot of time for the Sangheili to get used to working with Humans, it seemed that it was cordial between the races for now. The Elites were not alone as a small detachment of the Unggoy or the Grunts were with them, the Grunts were quick to move and secure the ship alongside the Sangheili as an entourage came out from the Dropship.

It was the Arbiter Thel' Vadam who was wearing his Arbiter Armor, but this was not the same as it had been updated and improved significantly to make it more effective and powerful. No longer was in an antiquated suit of Sangheili Armor but was up to par with a Zealot's Armor in terms of armor and shield strength while it's Active Camouflage systems were now to that of the Spec Ops Sangheili.

As the Arbiter looked about, he smelled the air and he could see that the Humans knew of his arrival as several Marines looked at him and even saluted. He gave them a nod as he and his escorts moved through the ship to meet with the Admiral.

Thel looked at the ship's interior which he was in as he was accompanied by two of his fellow Elites who were Zealots, a Sangheili Doctor, and also a pair of Spec Ops Grunts. Despite his position as the Light of Sanghelios and a key figure in the society of his people, he was a warrior born and bred and wanted to take part in this mission. He felt it was his personal responsibility to ensure that the alliance between his people and the UNSC, to repair his people's reputation as warriors, and to prove to himself that he was in the right path.

The Arbiter's group arrived into the bridge and he was greeted by a pair of UNSC Marines who were the security detail to the bridge. The two Marines saluted the Arbiter, but Thel could see that the courtesy ended at their eyes, they looked hard and sternly at him and his escorts. He did not react badly to this, he knew that they had a right to be like this due to what his people had done to them. This was yet another sign that he had a lot of work ahead of himself in proving that his people were not the same as before.

The doors opened and in he walked in with his escort to face the Admiral who turned to salute him as well.

"Greetings Arbiter, I trust that you and your forces are ready for the operation?"

"Admiral, it is good to see that the Fleet is ready, hunting down the Eternal Covenant will be a good way to end this triad. However, we must still be careful, while the Brutes are returning to their tribal ways, there is no telling what they have been able to accomplish in the shadows."

"True enough."

The Admiral then spotted the Elite next to Thel and noted something different about this one, this Elite was not wearing the traditional Combat Harness of the Elite forces, and it seemed to have some sort of symbol that was deep silver as well. Thel saw that and looked at the Elite who nodded as he spoke to the Admiral.

"I am Zoras No Thella Admiral, a Combat Medic of the Sangheili Military."

That surprised the Admiral and he made that obvious to the Arbiter.

"This is the first time that I have ever seen or met an Elite who's not a soldier but a Combat Medic. I don't recall any records of your people even having Medics in their forces in the field Arbiter."

Thel nodded.

"That you have not Admiral…this was one among many changes our people have began to spread in our forces. We made some mistakes in the past when we fought with your race, we thought that the tactics you used were dishonorable and cowardly, but not anymore."

This was true indeed, while the Sangheili profited greatly from advanced medical technology and medicine in their time with the Covenant, they were not very good in the usage of it for cultural reasons as well as foolish pride. There were indeed doctors in the Sangheili but they were not treated with a shred of respect, due to the old ways that his people had lived. Their belief that the blood of their kin was their honor meant that to have their blood spilled was an insult to their honor and history as Sangheili, and while this was acceptable for warriors as the spilling of their blood in battle was seen as acceptable, this was not so with doctors. Those who were doctors in their people were seen as honor-less and vile due to the fact that they spilled blood out of battle and so a visit from a doctor was seen as a sign of shame and as such, visitations from doctors were kept in secret. He should know…he had been visited by one himself in his younger years due to a training accident and still had the wound to prove it.

This also meant that any of his people who were wounded would go into a rage at having their blood spilled and would do anything to avenge it. Some would commit suicide or rush head long into battle without any plan or strategy as well as losing all advantages, or others would ask their kin to kill them to preserve their honor. Even the most experienced and high ranking Sangheili would soon give into this rage if wounded deeply enough and charge head long into a fight without any hesitation.

This had been one of the reasons why they had underestimated the Humans, since when they learned of this fact, the UNSC were quick to exploit it and in very innovative ways. UNSC Snipers and Marksmen were usually told to aim for the officers first and wound them badly if it was not possible for a kill to force them to break ranks and discard strategy, allowing carefully wrought plans to fail. This would break their leadership chain and also deprive them of officers as those who were wounded would either commit suicide or order others to kill them to preserve their honor. The Humans would do it again to force a Sangheili strike team to charge in and walk right into a well planned trap or ambush and this had resulted in what he knew now were unnecessary casualties and losses.

And while they derided the UNSC's medical personnel in the past, they now realized that these men and women were truly worthy of praise for their willingness to brave death to save their kin if it was possible. And they respected these individuals even more so if they could keep them alive long enough to keep fighting in the field of battle, even if it seemed hopeless at first glance. For this reason, he and the Councilors decided that the views of their people towards those of the medical profession had to be changed…even more so with the losses they suffered at the hands of the Brutes and the Eternal Covenant. They then began to have a number of their people trained in battle field surgery and first aid to ensure that their people would not suffer unnecessary losses ever again…which was why there were now Combat Medics in the Sangheili military and it was not long before these newly trained Sangheili proved their worth in the field of battle and off of it as well.

"I see, all right then, we should get things underway, our Fleet is ready so we need to discuss how we are going to kick the hell out of those Brutes and this new nut of a Prophet who's got the gall to lead them."

Thel nodded and his escorts growled in agreement, the Arbiter then spoke to the assembled forces.

"I will attempt to send out a parley message to the Brutes to convince them to turn from the lies that Prophet speaks, I doubt that it will work but if it should, this can break the Eternal Covenant's back even more."

"I don't know if that will work Arbiter, those Brutes don't love your people a great deal and while they have been beating the crap out of each other, I think that they would nothing more than to kill your people."

"I know…if that attempt fails, then I will be more than ready to fight and so will my brethren."

It was not long before both sides were discussing military strategy and tactics as well as pouring over the data they have been able to gather recently concerning their target. Apparently the Eternal Covenant's forces were fairly distributed in some key systems while the Brute home-world was still heavily defended. Many of Thel's people would have preferred to smash their way to Dosiac and burn the Brutes' world into nothing but a glass ball, but Thel overturned that suggestion.

Her had no desire to use such methods even on the Brutes unless there was little to no other choice to him. And there were other reasons, with their Fleets still trying to rebuild they did not have the numbers of ships needed for such a move, and even if they did, they would not be able to rebuild them as fast as they did once in the old days. Besides, the Brutes had fortified Dosiac completely and a direct attack was not advisable until situations had improved well enough to warrant such a strike.

This was why they were focusing on the military forces already deployed and if they were able to hit them hard and fast before they could mount a full offensive, it could break their backs before they could be a threat. So far what they did know about the staging ground was that it was a key spot for not just the conventional forces of the Eternal Covenant, but also served as a key site of supply and reinforcement for their raiding forces who had been attacking the UNSC and the Reborn as well.

Once the planning was over, he received word that the Reborn Fleet were ready to begin their operations alongside the UNSC. However, he decided to pay a visit to the Spirit of Fire, he heard of this vessel before and had learned that it had served in the battle of the human world of Harvest, the very same world that had been the site of the war between the Covenant and the UNSC when he and his brethren were still part of it.

Thel decided to pay the ship a visit and see it for himself and for a reason as well, and this time, he intended to do it alone. He gave that report to his brethren and while they were not keen on the idea, they did not dissuade him from it either, and with that in mind, he and his contingent left the Jacob Keyes and headed back to their Dropship.

.Once they were onboard, they moved out and sent word to the Spirit of Fire that they were on their way to them. Naturally Thel assured his kindred that he would be fine, he only wished to tour the ship and confirm something that was of importance to him.

…

Spirit of Fire…

It was not long before the Arbiter arrived and he was quickly greeted with a slightly less trusting reception of Marines, many of whom he knew were veterans of the Harvest campaigns. He did not feel threatened and did nothing to look threatening to the people themselves as well, he had no plans of doing so. He was soon escorted by none other than a band of Spartans wearing the same armor of the Master Chief, though the only difference was the fact that they had red markings on their armor.

The leader explained that he and his team were assigned by the Captain to watch him while he was on the Spirit of Fire and would only leave once they decided that he was not a threat to the crew. That was understandable to him and he did not argue and soon toured the ship carefully and nodded in approval at seeing the Huragok that were there. Already there were talks in having the Huragok from Earth send some of their own to the Sangheili to aid them though it was going to be a while as the Huragok in the service of the UNSC had grown accustomed to Humans and it would take a while before they would willingly work with his own people due to their memories of their slavery to the Prophets and the Covenant.

Jerome looked at the Arbiter intently and he was not alone as Alice, and Douglas were also looking at the Arbiter as the Sangheili was currently looking through a window into space. They came there as per the request of Captain Cutter to keep an eye on the Arbiter as Thel was in the Spirit of Fire to tend to allowing a detachment of his people to work with the forces in the SOF. It was an annoyance to the Spartans in private to be watching over someone like Thel, Jerome in general as he recalled the brutality of the Elites, namely that Arbiter who had been a pain in the neck for the UNSC and the crew of this ship.

Thel himself was not very comfortable with the situation as he knew that he was being watched by the three Spartans. He could not blame them for being wary of him as his people had a very strong history with the Spartans, and he knew that many of his people died by their hands which made them hated, and respected as well. But that was when they were at war with one another and he heard something about this particular band of Spartans and he wanted to confirm this.

"Tell me something."

Jerome glared silently but decided to reply.

"What is it?"

"Have you and your fellow Spartans fought another Elite who wore the same armor as I did, though it was of a silver color?"

That confused the Spartans a bit and Jerome was wondering what the purpose was of the Arbiter in asking such a question. He then decided to reply to that in his own fashion.

"We have encountered him but we never fought him, it was a Marine Sergeant named John Forge."

Douglas then spoke with a slight hint of satisfaction as he and the others had witnessed the death of that arrogant bastard of the Elite when the Marine stabbed him in the neck with his Knife, and drove that bastard alien's own precious Energy Sword into it's gut.

"He stabbed him in the neck while he was calling him weak with his Knife, and then drove that arrogant bastard's own Energy Sword into his guts."

Jerome looked at his fellow Spartan with some hint of disapproval which was evident not in his face due to the helmet, but through his body language. He knew that while he had his own dislike for Elites, they were allies now and antagonizing the Arbiter was not the best way to do things. What he and Red Team did not expect was the Arbiter's next question.

"Is the Sergeant you spoke of with you still?"

Alice then replied.

"No, he gave his life in the end to make sure that the Prophet of Regret did not get what they came for."

Thel growled a bit at the name of yet another hated Prophet and he then faced the Spartans and replied.

"Then I am saddened at his loss, he would have been a worthy man to meet."

Jerome was confused by that and replied.

"You're not angry at him for killing one of your own and an Arbiter like you?"

Thel shook his head and replied.

"No I am not angry, I in fact approve of his actions, the one you know as the Arbiter in that battle is Ripa Moramee, while he was indeed a great fighter, he was nothing more than a common criminal and a usurper. He allowed his own arrogance and pride to lead a rebellion against his own clan and he failed, he should have been executed that day, but the Prophets saved his worthless hide. He forsook all the honor and traditions of his people and was nothing more than a fanatic and a simple Brute…he was no son of Sangheilios, but a Brute reborn in the form of a Sangheili! And he was nothing more than a mindless puppet that served the lies of the Prophets without any hesitation."

"You're sergeant deserves my respect and my praise for ending that wretch's life, to me, Ripa was a fool and a traitor to his people and the spirit of his ancestors."

That was something that the three Spartans were not expecting from an Elite who was a high ranking member of their caste. Alice made that very obvious when she spoke.

"Never thought I would see the day an Elite would actually THANK any of us for killing one of them."

Thel nodded and replied.

"My people have much to do in order to redeem ourselves in the eyes of our Gods and your people, we followed the lies of the Prophets and gave up our honor and spirit in the name of power…things that has corrupted many of our people and sent us away from what was once our own destiny. We slaughtered those who were the true inheritors of the legacy of our Gods blindly, all for those wretches who cared more for their own power than the truth and shamed our ancestors as well as ourselves. We will do whatever we have to in order to regain our honor, and if it is to be done by spilling our blood and our lives, so be it."

Thel then walked to Jerome and spoke calmly to the leader of Red Team.

"I myself have much to make up for, it was I who led the campaigns that led to the battle over the cradle world of your people. It was I who led the Covenant forces in battle in this war, I have much to answer for and if it takes my blood and my life to wash away my sin, so be it."

Jerome could see that the Arbiter was saying the truth to him and Red Team and it was here that Douglas spoke.

"You're willing to die to redeem yourself and your people for what you did to the UNSC and Humanity?"

"Yes, I know that it might not be enough, but knowing that I did so willingly will do for now, I owe your Brother Spartan that much."

"What do you mean?"

"It was your fellow Spartan…the one called the Master Chief by those who knew him…it was he who opened my eyes to the lies of the Prophets. I at first refused to believe…until I saw the betrayal of my people by the Prophets, the slaughter of our leaders by their new Brute lackeys, and heard the truth from the Oracle itself. Your brother Spartan showed me the truth…and in doing so, my people forsook the Covenant and fought alongside the ones we should have aided so long ago. And in turn I personally aided him to end the Prophets and the Parasite to save all life once and for all. I owe him, and so do my people and for that reason, I am here to end the lies of this new Prophet once and for all or die trying. In that way, my ancestors will see that I have redeemed myself for my actions."

Jerome said nothing for a while and then replied to that.

"Fair enough…but there is the old saying, actions speak louder than words. Come on Red Team, we've got work to do."

As the Spartans left Thel alone, the Arbiter turned back to look once more at the stars and thought of the time he spoke to R'Tas who was currently back on Sangheilios along with other trusted Zealots and Ship Masters to ensure that their world and their colonies would not be suddenly attacked by the Brutes when they least expected it to happen while they were dealing with the Eternal Covenant. The Arbiter would have preferred to deal with the Brutes in a less hostile fashion but there was no doubt that it would never be easy.

He looked at the stars and wondered just what would happen in the future to come, and he decided to wait and see. There was much to do and he needed to get back to work.

As soon as the Arbiter left the Spirit of Fire and was with his people, the joint UNSC and Reborn Covenant Fleets took off to their mission objectives. There was a war to fight and this time, they were going to make the first strike.

…

Back in the VanDread Universe…

The three ships were now making their way back to Tarak and Megele and they were relieve that there was no sign of possible attacks that was going to come from the Harvesters. The Spartans themselves had no doubt that sooner or later, they were going to have to face the Harvesters and the enemy was soon going to have something deadly in store for them all. However, they were in for a surprise of their own at this very moment.

…

In the Medical Bay…

Dr. Halsey was silent as she read the data along with Duero and Paiway, the three medical professionals of the Nirvana could not help but look at the information and find it utterly unexpected to some degree. It was three weeks ago when Cortana came in and had mentioned that she had felt different somehow. Dr. Halsey had a sneaking suspicion on what that might be due to the fact that she was aware of the very passionate and intimate relationship between John and Cortana and took the data to see.

She looked the results over and over, hoping to see if her suspicions were correct, and they were as she looked at it once more and it was not long for Duero and Paiway to notice and look at the data as well. Needless to say they were also surprised as they looked at the information and it was not long before the young nurse spoke.

"How is that possible?"

"I am rather curious about that as well, this is totally unexpected."

The UNSC scientist however couldn't help but smile and sigh a bit as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. She then took the mug filled with strong coffee and took a good sip and placed it down as she spoke.

"I should have known this was going to happen, those two are going to be in for the time of their lives. I guess we should call them over here and share the news."

…

Later…

As the word came for the Spartan IIs and Cortana to go to the Medical Bay was spread out, it was not long before they arrived. They were rather curious as to what was the medical emergency that required them to be there in the first place, as far as they knew they all happened to be in fairly good shape to begin with so why would Dr. Halsey call on them all to be there. As soon as they arrived, Dr. Halsey spoke to them while looking at some of the data on her console.

"Nice to see that all of you have arrived here on such short notice…we have a concern before us and it involves…both John and Cortana."

That made Fred, Kelly, and Linda raise their eyebrows somewhat as they did not have their helmets on just as John did. The Spartan leader in question was more than willing to be a bit more vocal about what was on his mind.

"What exactly do you mean by that ma'am?"

Catherine looked at both him and Cortana with a very odd look that seemed to send warning signals into John's brain as this was the first time he had seen that look before. Cortana was also thinking along the same lines as John as she had never seen that same look on her 'mother's' face before at all.

The scientist then replied.

"Well, you two are about to have a very productive and interesting nine months, though Cortana is going to be the one who has to deal with it a lot more than you John."

"What do you mean by that ma'am?"

Catherine looked at Linda and gave a smile as she replied.

"John's about to take a role that he has NO knowledge about…and that is being a father since Cortana is now officially pregnant and she too will now add being a mother to her resume."

"WHAT?"

John and Cortana could not help but look on in shock at the news that they had just been given, it was so unexpected to the two of them that neither of them could utter a word. They were not the only ones as the other Spartan IIs were also shocked and were looking at their leader and the former UNSC A.I. It was not long before Dr. Halsey spoke and had a smile on her face as she looked directly at Cortana first.

"Looks like the cat's out of the proverbial bag Cortana."

Cortana nodded though she was still reeling from the news of her…pregnancy and she couldn't help but reflexively reach for her stomach. She touched it and could not help but feel awe and anxiousness at the idea of a child…soon to be born inside of her.

"How…"

"How did it happen? I think it's fairly obvious how it happened Cortana, after all…it WAS your first time and John's. And though it's not very…accurate, it does happen at time when two…"

"Mother!"

Dr. Halsey could not help but laugh a bit at the look of utter embarrassment on Cortana's face and it was not long before the other Spartans began to take it all in. Kelly being the more vocal of Blue Team and having a sense of humor phrased her thoughts easily.

"I guess that means me, and Linda are going to have to get used to the idea of being called Aunt Kelly and Aunt Linda, and Fred here is going to have to get used to being called Uncle Fred. Does that mean we have to take turns when it comes to feeding and changing our new nephew or niece?"

Fred shook his head while Linda rubbed the bridge of her nose while Kelly grinned at John and Cortana as the two were still taking it all in. John turned to face Cortana and he held her gently but tightly as he spoke to her.

"Cortana, looks like the two of us are going to be partners in more ways than one."

Cortana smiled at that and nodded…but anything she was about to say was cut short when Meia, Jura, Dita, Hibiki, Misty, Magno, and Buzam arrived into the Medical Bay. The elderly woman looked at the assembled UNSC members and she was soon joined by Paiway who had left the Medical Bay earlier so it was easy to guess what the reason was why they were in the Medical Bay at this very moment as Magno spoke to Dr. Halsey directly.

"Is it true that Cortana is actually pregnant?"

Dr. Halsey nodded and when Magno turned to both John and Cortana and gave them a smile as the three Dread pilots moved over to Cortana, with Dita being utterly amazed and spoke to her friend.

"You're going to be a fahma Cortana?"

"Yes I am."

"Wow! I am so happy for you Cortana! Who's the ohma?"

Cortana smiled a bit more and pointed to John and replied.

"I think that it's easy to guess who my…husband is Dita. We might not be married, but I doubt that matters right now."

Dita smiled as she looked at Cortana and John as she knew that the two of them were very close and seeing how happy Cortana was made her even happier. She also could see that John was happy as he was close to Cortana and she spoke to him as well.

"Congratulations Mr. Green Alien, you and Cortana are going to be a very good couple."

It was here that Jura spoke to Cortana once more as she had a question.

"I am happy for you Cortana, but do you mind if I ask you a question?"

"What is it?"

"How did you get John's seed and can you teach me how to get it also?"

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the delay, my computer had to go for a full systems cleanup after the BSOD thing happened. The good news is that my computer is still in good hands and is working fairly well for the time being.

Well, we have managed to get a new chapter and I hope that this new work will be more than enough to show that this story is now getting the update.

This chapter is following through the last chapter and now we can see how the Megele Navy operates along with their forces. And we can already see the results.

Like the pirates, the members of the Ruby Rapier are all attractive in their own right, and they also love the things from back home. The difference between them and the pirates is that they are part of the military and they are somewhat better equipped than the pirates and also have access to Megele military gear. Their armor however being military grade is more resilient and advanced compared to the arsenals that the pirates had before they began to use UNSC technology and develop their new Power Armor. Their weapons are similar to the women though as they are part of the military, they have access to more advanced weapons as well as more exotic devices that are not seen in the arsenal of the pirates in the Nirvana.

…

Now we can focus on some of the differences between the two sides.

The men of Tarak who focus on strong and passive camouflage body armor, reliable technology tested in space and their world, projectile weapons with a mix of some soon to be revealed exotic native weapons, and heavy weaponry. This shows that while they do use some form of passive camouflage, the men focus on endurance, heavy firepower, armor, flexibility, and reliable weaponry that is tested in many conditions.

This would make the men similar to what we could guess would be GDI from Command and Conquer fame. Like GDI, the men are in the idea of striking hard and be able to take the hits while still being able to hit back harder than their enemies can once they recover. This is more in line with the men of Tarak due to their society and world. And in some ways, they are similar to the UNSC as they focus on reliable weaponry and technology and actually have some similarities with the UNSC itself. And I do plan to have more of their technology seen when the time comes

In the other side of the spectrum the female military rely on energy weaponry, light weight but highly flexible body armor with some more advanced stealth abilities, and a slew of heavier weapons and armor for more serious operations, but are still able to be considered light weight and mobile. This means that they are focused on a more mobile and sneaky style of fighting against their foes, thus their forces can be said to be focusing on agility, surprise, speed, and technology.

In some regards, I based some of the Megele military's tactics on the Asari race from Mass Effect, this is due to the fact that like the Asari, the women of Megele are all female and their style of fighting would be more in the psyche of a female approach to combat. This means they focus on grace agility, lethal strikes, and precision firepower and are more in line with ninja and are in some ways like the Brotherhood of Nod due to the Nod military using speed, stealth, subterfuge, and only attacking when they have everything on their side.

…

These differences in combat doctrine, methodology, tactics, and technology are but part of the package as we also see the culture clash of the two sides.

In the case of the men of Tarak, they are appalled and disgusted with what they see as a waste of precious resources and supplies for trivial uses. And that can be understandable as the men of Tarak have indeed lived in a world were supplies and resources are precious and rationed to ensure that their people will live. I have mentioned this in GunDread Seed and the Second Stage of it as well, and this is present in Hung's TekkaDread story and the sequel as well, and it is true.

That is why the men reacted the way they did the second they saw the women's ship and it's interior as well as the aesthetics. To them all that water could have been used for more practical applications and for survival, and the idea of wasting such water for plants that can't even be eaten or used for medical purposes as well as other helpful uses is preposterous and treasonous. That is why the comment that if they ever caught any of their own wasting resources like that they would have thrown him into the brig for life or even execute the said person.

This of course clashes with the women who do not see the reason behind the men's reactions and think that they are only reacting this way out of jealousy. The women naturally have lived in a planet where they have more resources to use than the men, and while they do use a lot, their technological advantages allow them to grow food more effectively, along with having more automation and allow them to focus on other tasks. Their technological advantages apply to other areas as well so it is natural that they take their technology for granted and revel in it.

That coupled with what they have thought about the men naturally makes them see the complaints of the men on how they use resources as the cries of the jealous people. They have better technology, food, luxuries, and more so they think that the men have no reason to complain and try to boss them around.

This of course will be seen as a more serious version of how the men of Tarak on the Nirvana dealt with the women and vice versa. This is due to the fact that unlike the pirates who were civilians or ex-military before taking their new lives, and the men being the exceptions of the usual mold of the men of Tarak, the crews of the Titan and Ruby are core military and are very much enemies and the fact that they had tried to kill each other before being 'rescued' by the Nirvana and her crew adds weight to the tension.

This will soon be resolved in the later chapters, but do not expect the whole process to be easy in any stretch of the imagination. The Nirvana crew and their Talvernian allies will be busy keeping the peace between them and there will be chapters that will have the two crews having to work together and this is where they will have to agree to work as one to live through what they will face.

I am thinking of trying a Black Hawk Down style mission that will have the Nirvana crews along with the crews of the Titan's Wrath and Ruby Rapier working as one.

…

On another note, I will also be working on the relationships on the Nirvana to speed things along. Obviously this will include Hibiki and Dita's relationship, Duero and Parfait's own relationship, as well as some developing ones. Jura and Fred finally ended their sparring and it seems that they are getting along well enough.

And I have a feeling that some might ask me if I am going to have the two be paired…I will say that I might do that or I might not, and if you ask if Barnette will be involved, I just might do that as well. I have no idea if this relationship if we can call it that is going to be romantic but we will see…and if I get asked if Barnette herself will find a partner, she just might, who that is will be up to me so you will have to wait and see. Don't forget that I will also be dealing with Misty soon enough on what will happen to her in the story.

If you have any suggestions on this, then I will be more than happy to listen.

And yes, there will be lemons again at some point in the story and if you ask who will it involve…then I am keeping my mouth shut until I get everything squared away.

And if you have been paying attention, I am now planning to have Cortana have children, it was going to happen at some point anyway, and you can bet that it is going to make things a lot more surprising for the crew of the Nirvana. Of course it will not just be them, but also the men and women from Tarak and Megele when they find out that it IS possible for men and women to have children together.

…

The lemon or lemons for WOW Halo will come at least three or four chapters after the Burning Crusade Arc, and just so we're clear, I have some of the women in mind. Kaelyn is certainly one of them, and Erin is not far behind at some point. Jaina might also be included as well as others to be sure though I will pick for myself.

Just so we're clear, I am not going to lock in on any woman as a permanent partner, I am not adverse to some flings here and there though it will be done in a fashion that will work. It will not be the jump in bed and forget everything the next day thing. I will work on that so it will at least make some sense.

So feel free to offer suggestions as I will soon be updating G.I Joe Halo and then WOW Halo itself…and remember, once the later is updated, then ALL Halo stories will be on ice.

So don't bother asking me I will update them all right?

…

And one last thing, I am already working on my Naruto/Justice League crossover idea as well as taking the time to plan out how I will update my Naruto fics once I put my Halo stories on ice. I also would like to stress that I plan to delete the Naruto Passion Deodorant story since I have decided that it will not be a viable story since there seems to be some conflict for it.

And so, don't be surprised if I replace it with new chapters for all Naruto fics that I have made thus far along with my new Naruto story. I might also update my other stories that have nothing to do with Naruto or Halo.

For the readers of the soon to be deleted story, I apologize for that but I feel that it might not be a viable story. If I do bring it back, I might rewrite it and change the plot somewhat so I hope that you don't worry about it so much. Anyway, I hope that this will clear it up just in case anyone starts wondering what happened to the story.

Bye!

…

See you all soon!


	14. Trailer

I am working on a brand new set of plans for my Halo works and a few new ideas to try out as I being to get closer to my goal of updating all of my non-Halo stories. For VanDread Halo The Second Stage, I am now working into implementing the Black Hawk Down idea that I spoke of nearly a year or so ago.

This trailer should give you an idea what is going to happen in the arc…and before you ask, I will have the UNSC/Reborn Covenant forces arrive in this same arc. This arc will be long and filled with as many battles as I can fit in.

I just hope that everyone here in the site can excuse this since I am already going to prepare for my family's Christmas trip to the ancestral home on my dad's side of the family.

See you all very soon!

…

Trailer…

…

In the Nirvana's bridge

"By Grandma!"

The cries of the Nirvana's bridge crew was understandable as they gazed at the horrific sight as the massive colony ship that was carrying the survivors of the latest world being besieged was hit on the side. And already they could hear the shouting and screams of the crews and survivors on the communications channels.

"No!"

"Fires on Deck Ten!"

"Deck Seven is breached!"

"Losing structural integrity in….BOOOOMMMMMM!"

"SEAL THE BREACHES!"

"HELPPPPPP!"

"Mommy!"

"NO!"

"AAAAAAGGGGGGG!"

"This is Captain Reynard! Colony Ship 090 is going down!"

"We've taken…a direct hit at the engine block! Power plant bank Nine is gone!"

"We are losing altitudte!"

"Get those fires out!"

"BRACE FOR IMPACT!"

The crew could only watch in horror as the massive colony ship…so like the Nirvana which was reactivated to evacuate the survivors went back down to earth like a fiery arrow and smashed into the ground with a horrendous plume of dirt and fire. The massive ship tore a massive gash in the land and soon smashed hard into the nearby mountain face several kilometers from the city that it had tried to leave from. Magno could not help but feel her heart nearly stop at the sight of the ship burning.

"All those people…"

"Grandma help them…"

"Please let them be alive…please let them be alive."

The crew waited and soon they were getting signals from the downed ship, the cries in the communications link to the ship were faint but there. Magno looked at Buzam and the commander wasted no time and scanned the ship and already the data came in as she looked at the crew.

"There are survivors Captain, but they are badly injured, others by sheer luck are alive and safe, and others…we cannot do anything for them."

Magno nodded grimly as she contacted John and the Nirvana Infantry forces along with the Talvernians, Titan's Wrath and the Ruby Rapier forces that were on the ground. John appeared on the communications system and he spoke quickly to Magno.

"We saw it Captain, we're going to get as many survivors as we can find still alive once we pack up and move."

"Do what you can Chief…we cannot let the Harvesters have them…save all that you can and get out."

"Roger, Cortana, we need another escape route."

Cortana nodded and replied.

"There's another colony ship on port at least three to four klicks from the city that you guys are in. But unless you guys can take out those Anti-Ship batteries, the Harvesters might very shoot down that ship. Hurry John, the Harvester's main invasion force is already on the move to the city. There's so many of them, and there are at least two Command Spiders with them so do not try to fight the main force..take out the anti-ship batteries before you all get surrounded."

John nodded but just as it seemed that they could get on the move, they got incoming klaxon alarms and Cortana quickly accessed the data and she paled in horror as she revealed the data to the rest of the crew. The entire bridge and the forces of the Nirvana along with the Titan's Wrath, and the Ruby Rapier could not help but look on in utter dismay as they saw the arrival of a Harvester Fleet.

Untold numbers of Cube Fighters, Seed Ships, and at least four Harvester Battle Ships…one of the largest fleets that they had ever seen before…and in no way can they fight them. They had already worked hard to cripple one Harvester Battleship over this world to clear the path for the evacuation, but now they had another force to deal with.

This was bad…really bad.

Belvedere spoke in a low and terrified voice.

"No, four battleships? We can't fight that many!"

Magno and the others nodded and things looked grim until Cortana spoke.

"That fleet is arriving here in five days time but two of them will be here in two."

John saw it and spoke.

"Get the Nirvana, the Titan's Wrath, and the Ruby Rapier out of here."

Cortana was horrified and turned to face John and shouted out, shocking some of the crew.

"NO! WE ARE NOT LEAVING!"

"Yes you are Cortana, you know there's no way you guys can fight two battleships even with that much preparation time. You will have to lure them away and lose them."

"And leave you behind?-? NO! You can't ask me to leave you and everyone else behind! We can get you all out!"

"Those Anti-ship batteries are still here on the surface Cortana, you cannot afford to expose the Nirvana and get yourselves caught in between the world and that Fleet. Get out of here now."

Cortana tried to say something but it was here that Magno spoke to her and the crew.

"Chief is right, we cannot stay here, if we can lure the Harvester Fleet away from the world and lose them, then we have a chance of coming back and saving them."

Cortana shook her head in denial and even Buzam was not in agreement with this.

"But if we leave…then the others on the surface will be cut off Captain! They will have no supplies, weapons, ammunition and there's no telling if the Harvester reinforcements will deploy reinforcements to the surface. We'll be leaving them behind and if the Harvester deploy more, they will be cut off and possibly slaughtered before we can come back."

John spoke next to that.

"You have to Commander, if the Nirvana and the other ships stay here and get wiped out, then it will all be for nothing, we ALL will die. You have to lure them away from here and we will do what we can to eliminate the Harvester's Anti-Ship Batteries to make sure that we can be rescued once you get back before they get wiser. You have to go now before they arrive, and that means you as well Cortana."

"No! No! I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU!"

Cortana was deep in tears, and even though she was in her AI form the tears were there and her avatar was crackling with her emotions. Dr. Halsey arrived and se could see the emotions in her daughter, and despite his MJOLNIR being able to hide his face and body language, she could see that John was affected. But she knew that they had no choice…they had to leave and get the Harvesters away from the battle field and spoke to Cortana gently.

"You have to do it Cortana…"

"Mother…no…I can't do it…"

"You have to…we will come back for them Cortana."

Magno nodded in agreement and so did Buzam as well as the others and Cortana then looked at John seriously. She then moved out of her holo-tank and came out in her human form, and there on her belly were the signs of her pregnancy. She looked deeply at John and spoke to him in a tone that was filled with emotion.

"You stay alive John, promise me that no matter what, you stay alive."

"I promise."

"You had better you crazy caveman! You stay alive no matter what because I will be damned if I have to live without you! I will not have our kids grow up without a father John! Come back to me alive and safe you hear me?-!"

John nodded at that and replied.

"You know me, when I make a promise…"

"You keep it…I know how to pick them. But you are going to have to prove it to me again John."

"I will."

…

There…hope that this is enough for now and I wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

.


	15. Chapter 15

VanDread Halo: The Second Stage

Disclaimer: I do not own Bungie or GONZO so I don't own the anime and the game.

Chapter 9

Mother/Father to be

( ): Thoughts

…

In the Nirvana galley…

"Here you go Cortana, take care of Ezra for a moment."

Cortana nodded as she took the baby from Ezra as the young mother was busy stirring some of the milk in the pot for her daughter. The bridge officer was happy that the down time had allowed her to be with her daughter and she was more than pleased to know that she was not going to be the only mother on the Nirvana. As for Cortana, she held Kahlua gently and hoped that she was going to do all right with holding her friend's daughter.

Kahlua cooed and looked sleepily at Cortana and she could not help but feel a bit active as she tried to reach out to Cortana's face. The former A.I could not help herself as she allowed the little baby to touch her face, and she smiled a bit as Kahlua gave her a cheeky grin before moving to fall asleep. Ezra saw that and smiled at Cortana and spoke to her.

"Kahlua seems to be quite taken by you Cortana."

"Thanks, it's nice to know she's a very good judge of character."

Ezra smiled warmly as she looked at her supplies of clothing and some other things for Kahlua, it had been hard to find supplies since the Nirvana was not exactly a place for a baby to be born. So she was happy that the crew pitched with supplies and things that could make taking care of her first born daughter easier. It also made her smile as she could see that Cortana was quite taken with her child and the former A.I herself was soon to become a mother to be. The gentle bridge officer could see the soon to appear signs of pregnancy on her friend and sat down to take Kahlua back from Cortana. The baby gave a slight cry but soon settled back into her arms and she looked at Cortana once more as she spoke to her friend.

"Did your mother say when you would be giving birth to your first daughter?"

Cortana blushed a bit and shook her head.

"Not really…mother said that pediatrics was not her field of expertise, but since we both knew that a baby needs nine months to be fully ready to be born, I would say it might take a while. And I'm not so sure I will have a daughter Ezra, I mean, considering that I…uh…had a baby the old fashioned way with John, I might have a son."

Ezra was a bit surprised by that and replied.

"A son? You mean like a little boy?"

"Yeah, you see…I know about procreation between genders and I know that you usually have a fifty-fifty chance of having a girl. I could end up having a boy for my first born."

Ezra could not help but be curious about how things were going to be if Cortana actually gave birth to a healthy baby boy. The idea of a woman having a male baby would have really caused one hell of an uproar on Megele and would have been seen as an abomination. But the gentle hearted bridge officer could not see it that way. Cortana in both her human form and her A.I form, as well as John were valued members of the crew and she admired Cortana for being a good friend. Plus she was curious herself on what it would be like to have a male baby in the Nirvana.

"I think that it will all work out in the future, everyone in the Nirvana are actually very happy with the news that we got concerning your being a mother. The members of the Infantry Forces are utterly curious about the whole thing and have been asking me what I would do if Ezra had a new playmate onboard the ship."

Cortana looked at Ezra and smiled at the gentle brunette and was happy to count her as one of her friends in the Bridge crew.

"You would not believe how often Dita would come by and ask me when you were going to have a baby. And she even asked me if that means she can have a baby with Hibiki too."

Cortana was lucky that Kahlua was in her arms to remind her not to overreact, but she did look wide eyed at Ezra and made her surprise very clear.

"Dita actually said that?"

Ezra nodded and replied.

'She was not the only one as well, Jura began to come by more often and ask me advice on how to care for a baby. I think she's still got the idea of having a baby in mind though she seems more interested to have the baby for the sake of being a mother than famous. She might think of asking Hibiki to help her, or the other men on the ship as well. She might even try to ask John how he did it with you."

THAT Cortana could believe quite easily, she knew full well how eager Jura was to have children. But despite the fact that she was on cordial terms with the blonde Dread pilot, she was not going to start talking about what she and John did in private.

"I certainly hope not! What John and I did is private thank you very much!"

Ezra noted the utterly embarrassed look on the woman's face and the fact that she was blushing bright red was a bigger clue as to how embarrassed the former AI was on the subject. She could not help but be amused and soon took Kahlua from Cortana and she spoke again.

"Don't worry, I might not hang out with Jura a lot, but I can assure you that she would not be too forceful about it. Besides, despite her previous actions, she does know how important being a mother is and would be happy to one day have a child."

Cortana nodded and soon Ezra spoke once more as she moved Kahlua back and forth in her arms, allowing the gentle baby to sleep nicely.

"By the way, how is John handling the idea of being a father?"

Cortana was silent about it and shook her head a bit in amusement.

"I am not so sure, all I know is that the level of teasing heading in his direction as been rather interesting."

…

In the gym in the Nirvana's UNSC side…

John was currently lifting weights and he was doing it outside of his armor and only wearing a military grey colored muscle shirt and black pants as well as boots. His MJOLNIR was currently undergoing maintenance and checks in the Engineering Bay with Dr. Halsey and Parfait. He was eager to get himself into shape, keep his edge, and also try to relax as he was still running through the idea of being a father.

He was being teased about it by Kelly and even Fred and Linda would routinely tease him about his being a father and he could not help but shake his head at all of it. But truth be told, he was not bothered by it and did not have a negative thought on the whole affair. Truth be told, he was looking forward to it somewhat and while he was not sure about the whole idea of him being a father, that did not mean that he was going to turn his back on the responsibility of being a father. He recalled the conversation he and Cortana had during Christmas and wondered just how she would have reacted if she learned that she would be the mother of a child between him and her.

Dr. Halsey had been every supportive of the idea and she made it clear that they both had her support. And that was something that really mattered to him. Dr. Halsey was the closest person to a mother that he and the other Spartans had and the fact that she was happy with the idea meant to him that he was technically in the clear. As for Mendez, the Senior Chief Petty Officer was still as stony as ever, but he could sense that his former commanding officer, chief trainer, and father figure was not against it in the slightest.

As he placed the weights aside, he then decided to head to the showers and get cleaned up, as well as change into his military fatigues. As he went there, Fred was coming out and the two Spartans greeted one another.

"Squad Leader."

"Fred, how is everything with the Team?"

"Pretty good though to be honest sir, we're still busy getting used to the idea of working with a civilian group and pirates at that, not exactly standard issue in the training we had. But these Harvesters are a serious threat considering all the things that they have been doing to human colonies. I read the reports you gave after all and I am ready to fight the enemy, but it is still hard to believe that they are from Earth and used to be human like we are."

"I know, but they are the enemy, we cannot deny that no matter what happens."

"True, anyway I need to ask…are you ready for what is going to happen soon?"

John looked at Fred and he could see that despite his serious look, Fred was somewhat amused by what was going on with him and Cortana. He could not help but smile a bit at Fred and he replied.

"I am ready, it's surreal I'll give it that."

"True, but if you are dead set on this, you got my support every step of the way. Got to go and get some grub. See you Squad Leader."

John gave Fred a salute and the Spartan II left his fellow Spartan II to think once more about the situation he was in with Cortana. He did love Cortana and he was going to stay with her and their soon to be born child. He had no doubt that if this happened in the UNSC, then a lot of people were going to be surprised at the idea of a Spartan being a father. That was going to be made even more complex by the fact that Cortana, who was once an A.I was somehow made into a living being of flesh and blood who had been his long time friend was now the mother of his child with her.

John thought it over a few more times and decided to let time play it's hand, for now he would need to concern himself with getting his team ready for the next mission. Though he had no doubt that sooner or later there was going to be a lot more discussions between them.

He was soon greeted by Kelly and Linda as both his team members were busy coming back from their own training regimes, Linda checking her Sniper Rifle and making some new modifications and Kelly keeping herself busy with some drills with weights. Kelly gave him a slight smile of amusement and spoke to him.

"Hey there John, how is it being a father?"

John sighed a bit and gave a smile of his own which was well received by Kelly while Linda merely shrugged but it was clear to John through her body language alone that she was also amused by the current situation that her long time friend and fellow Spartan had found himself in and she soon spoke to offer her own opinion.

"You seem to be trying to get used to things John."

"Yeah, but I am going to stay with the whole thing to the end."

Both female Spartans could tell that John was very serious about this situation and it further convinced them that John had this situation in hand. And they have to admit that they were actually looking forward to the chance to see how their leader handled being a father. Plus they were actually interested to see just how John's son or daughter would react to them even though Linda was not going to comment all that much anyway to people.

…

All over the Nirvana, people were talking about the news that there was going to be a new baby to be born in the Nirvana. The Talvernians were very much supportive of the idea of having another little tyke in their midst since knowing that life prospered even in times like this was a serious morale boost to them and no doubt to the Nirvana as well. The women were all very eager at the idea of seeing just what sort of child John and Cortana were going to have once Cortana was going to give birth. They had been getting used to the situation they were in and a number of the men were also becoming rather attached to some of the Megele women pirates on the ship, though so far it was all touch and go.

Captain Harrison, one of the many leaders of the Talvernians was happy to speak about the whole situation between John and Cortana to some of his fellow Talvernians.

"Got to admit it's kind of hard to imagine him being a father, but if anyone in my mind deserves to have some happiness, it's the Chief thus far".

Another Talvernian, a woman by the name of Carrie spoke about her own thoughts on the matter.

"Yeah, I still find it hard to believe that his wife used to be an A.I who is now flesh and blood. Not that I don't trust her since she helped coordinate so many missions and helped keep us alive, but how did she become flesh and blood in the first place?"

"Not really sure, but there is nothing wrong with them being close to one another, since all I know is that they were very close to one another. All I can say is that at the very least we can be happy that life is still going on. One thing is sure to me though, if anything this news has given me hope and I am going to make the most of it."

His other companions nodded and it seemed to be business as usual for the Talvernians in the area they happened to be in. But on another side in the Nirvana's, one of the male Talvernians, one of their armorers who maintained their own gear was currently having a discussion with one of the Register Girls from Gascogne's place who had dropped by bringing in some new supplies that they needed for their weapons.

"How exactly did you ladies populate your world anyway?"

"We gather the egg of one of the women in the family who is willing to become a fahma and it's fertilized by the genes gained from the ohma and then is given to the fahma to raise to term. Why do you ask me that?"

The man was still not sure how to take that since he had been rather curious about how the women of Megele managed to populate their world. It was also here that the woman he was talking to asked him how they were able to have children. He explained just how they did so with women and needless to say, the woman he was speaking to was very much shocked by the idea of men and women having children.

However, the man in question, Trey Douglas then spoke to her about it.

"But keep in mind that Cortana is a woman, a flesh and blood woman and she got pregnant."

"I…suppose, but I have to ask

…

The all female members of the Nirvana Infantry forces were very eager to meet the child and many of them were actually entertaining ideas of being big sisters to the baby in question. They did not mind of the baby is going to be a boy or girl, they have already considered John as their fahma so they do not have any problems with him being a father. As they moved on with their regular duties in the Nirvana, they also began to chat about how they were going to act once they finally got home to their base near Megele.

Reina was relaxing in the galley and enjoying some juice before heading off to her other work in the Register, but was soon joined by Ally and Kaylee, both Dread Pilots and part of Team B. The two sat down and Reina smiled at them.

"Hey there, Ally Kaylee, who have you gals been?"

"Busy, Meia's been keeping us busy when we don't have anything else to do. It's tough and certainly is a lot harder than before now, but at least the training keeps us alive, and the new gear is certainly helpful."

"Yep, I wore that myself, the ODST gear is really interesting and very darn useful. I can see why the UNSC used gear like it and the Marine Body Armor that I used in the past and still do use. Anyway, how are you all dealing with the men on the ship?"

"Well…they are not so bad now that I got to get closer to them."

Ally said and Kaylee nodded as well.

"Yeah, I mean compared to the stories I heard as a young girl back on Megele, they're not all bad. Sure they act different and they certainly are not like us, but they are not inferior and barbaric, at least in the way the government used to show them. Anyway I am curious about how you and the others are taking the fact that your leader is about to be an ohma, or a father?"

Reina smiled a bit at that and replied.

"Well…me and the girls are very happy at the idea of the Master Chief being a father, and we'd consider the baby he and Cortana would have as our little sister or…brother as Misty would say it, We treat the Master Chief as our ohma so it would make sense that we would treat the soon to be born baby as one of our own."

The two women smiled at the meaning behind Reina's statements and they were also going to be curious just what a baby born from a man and a woman would look like. Reina herself was curious and she knew that the same sentiment was with the rest of the teams. All they could hope for was that the baby would be delivered safely and they would make sure that none of the Harvesters would get their metallic hands on the baby if they found Cortana.

…

In another section of the Nirvana…

Jura was currently working on her swordsmanship again in order to keep herself in good condition, she was still wearing her traditional garb and going through the motions that she learned from her fencing master. As she went through the motions, she also began to think about the news on how Cortana got pregnant and due to being with the Master Chief intimately. She had to accept the fact that she was very intrigued and was very curious about how such a feat was accomplished between them.

There was no doubt in her mind that John and Cortana were close to one another, not surprising the many things that they had dealt with in the past. And there was also the fact that both of them were always a team even though Cortana was not an A.I anymore. Still she was hoping to find out how it was done since the book that she had with her was not exactly very helpful in providing information on just HOW it was done. The only one who could answer that question was Cortana herself though when she brought up her desire to know how she did it, the former A.I was rather tight lipped about it.

She had no idea why that was the case herself but she decided already that she would not stop asking, she was still interested in asking Hibiki to give her his seed even if Dita and Misty would be against it. But if she could not have a baby with him, then she could try looking for other viable males. Sure the Talvernian males would be a good choice since they themselves knew how to have children with both genders, but she was still looking for one who was special.

As she thought about it a bit more, she turned to see none other than Fred who was not in his armor and was currently busy lifting weights. She had been so focused on her fencing and how to find a suitable seed donor that she had not noticed the arrival of the Spartan who was one of John's closest friends, brother, and second in command when he was among the Spartans who were in the same generation as he was. She continued with her fencing but could not help but see Fred move as he was not wearing a shirt.

She could not help but look at the man as he continued to move the weights up and down, allowing his body to move and ripple with each action. Something about seeing the man's body like this made her decide to put down her sword for a minute or two as she observed the man. Each action was fluid and precise, so much so that she like anyone could think that Fred was more machine than human, but she knew that he was flesh and blood and not some android that she had heard and seen in numerous movies back as a child on Megele.

As she looked on, she began to feel something stir in her as she looked at the Spartan a lot more than what a woman would normally do. Fred was not too tall or too short, he did not stand out and his black hair with grey streaks made him look older. But Jura had seen Fred in action and had sparred with him already so she had a fairly accurate idea that while he could blend in with a crowd well, he was not a regular man in any stretch of the imagination. She soon found herself moving closer for a better look at the man and could not help but admire his actions.

The stirring in her began to grow and a sudden rush of…warmth hit her senses at this point and she could not help but look on at the man.

As for Fred, he was well aware of Jura's presence in the immediate area but did not bother her as she was currently training as well as looking deep in thought. What it was he could not guess, nor did he want to as he decided to get to lifting weights and had removed his shirt which was still wet from his previous workout. Most would wonder why he would do this a lot, but he was doing it to keep himself in shape. Even when he noticed that she was staring at him, he ignored it and focused on doing his routines. After all, the last thing he wanted was to accidentally injure himself in training and compromise himself for a mission, Chief Mendez would chew him out for that like mad.

However, he did notice the way the blonde Dread pilot was staring at him ever since she stopped her workout just to look at him. He did not know why she would do that, but since she was not doing anything odd except the staring, he decided to ignore her staring. Truth be told, he was curious on what exactly was her reason to be in the Pirates. The Spartan II was no expert on civilian matters, but he felt that Jura did not look the least bit like the kind of woman who was set to be a pirate. Most men he knew of in the UNSC military forces would have thought different of the blonde woman, like he would. But he had seen her in action as pilot and while not exactly an ace, she was good as a pilot.

Not to mention that she was attractive…

Now that train of thought made Fred mentally frown since he was not sure why he would suddenly think that. He knew the mechanics of attraction when it came to human nature and reproduction, but he did not focus on it as it was just part of their education as Spartans back in each. Now however…things were different, they were with civilians and even the Nirvana's infantry teams were still civilians in his mind. He did not have anything against them, truth be told, he was impressed that despite not being professional soldiers, they knew how to fight and act as a team.

Still, he was not sure how to take being with civilians for a very long time. He did not dislike Jura, in fact despite their difference of weapons choice, he did find it nice to meet someone who had skill with weapons. Speaking of which, the Spartan decided to stop and get some Knife Combat training in. He stopped the routine and placed down the weights and soon headed to the mat but not before speaking to the blonde woman.

"How are you today Miss Elden?"

Jura sighed a bit and replied.

"You know that you can just call me Jura."

"Sorry, anyway, how are you doing?"

"Been good, and hoping to finish my fencing exercises…say, why don't you and I spar like last time?"

Fred thought it over and decided to take a shot at it since she was very much skilled in using, melee weapons and the others would be busy.

"All right then."

Unknown to them, Barnette had seen the same thing, she wondered just what Jura was seeing in these men, even more so now that she suspected that Jura was interested in this Spartan II. She hoped that Jura would give up the idea of having a baby with a man, but decided to hold her peace and see how this would turn out. Though she did have to admit that at least Fred was not at all like the men she had been raised to dislike since she and Jura were born.

However, there was the fact that she had been staring at the man who was out of his armor a lot longer like her blonde friend.

…

Ezra was currently feeding her baby as Lucy entered with the Spartan III out of her SPI Mark II Armor. The gentle hearted bridge officer smiled at the young woman and despite her stoic look, the young woman gave a nod and walked over to Ezra. She looked at Kahlua and then did some hand signals to Ezra, asking if Ezra needed anything to help take care of Kahlua.

She smiled at the mute Spartan III and replied with the same gestures as she had taken a language course in her younger days..

"I don't mind if you can bring me some spare cloth and my sewing kit, I need to make some new diapers for Kahlua. I have to breast feed her for a while."

Lucy replied that she would get it and left, it was not long before she came back with said clothing and Ezra then asked her a question via hand signals.

"Do you mind if you can hold Kahlua for a few minutes, I need to check my supplies to make sure that I have enough for that I need to do."

Lucy was shocked a that and it was here that Tom came in, also bare of his SPI Mark II Armor and he saw how nervous Lucy was. He did not need to ask what was going on as he was quick to make sense of what was going on. Tom walked over to his fellow Spartan III and spoke to her with hand signals.

"You'll be fine, Kahlua trusts you."

Lucy was not very sure about that but Tom's words were correct as Kahlua did not cry or panic while being in the arms of the Spartan III. Lucy began to relax somewhat and she soon held Kahlua. Tom was also there to help with the baby as he sat down next to Lucy and Ezra could not help but think that the two looked good together. She however decided not to bring it up since she felt that they should be the ones to find out about it on their own time and not from anyone else.

…

In the Medical Bay…

Halsey was currently working with Duero and running through a number of her personal studies as well as helping both Duero and Paiway. He thoughts on the two people in the Medical Bay were fairly balanced and while she was still somewhat unused to the demands of medical care, Halsey still felt that if given time and training, Paiway would do fine. Duero was a very shrewd young man and a lot of potential in him, and for which she was thankful. As she placed thoughts like those aside, she began to think about what was going to happen now that it was conformed that Cortana would soon be an expectant mother.

She had no doubt that people back in the UNSC would be demanding how it was possible that a former Smart AI had somehow become a living, breathing human. And even more so when they would learn that said former AI was now able to conceive children. And of course the idea that Duero had once asked her that remained in the back of her mind.

The idea in question was the possibility of the Spartans being able to have children with others of the respective opposite of their gender despite their suppressed sexual drive. It was not something that was wrong since all of the Spartan IIs including those who were crippled and those who had died were the results of the past gene therapy and intense selection process during the Colonization Era and the baseline biological enhancements given to the populace of the UNSC by the Spartan Is. What concerned her was how the baby was going to turn out once he or she was born. There was still the mystery of Cortana being a human woman, and while she was 100 percent healthy and very much human like her, the method on how she became one might have unseen and unexpected consequences to the child between her and John.

She was not thinking this to be pessimistic in view, she wanted Cortana who was in every respect her daughter to be happy and to be a mother. She wanted the child to be healthy, whole and strong without any possible flaws that could endanger the baby and Cortana. Even though childbirth was not as dangerous as before, the lessons learned from the past would not be forgotten so if and when Cortana had her baby, she was going to make sure that her 'daughter' and her 'grand-child was going to get all the advantages they needed to make their lives better.

"Excuse me Dr. Halsey?"

Catherine turned to see that Paiway was asking to speak to her, the young girl seemed somewhat pensive and this surprised Halsey as she decided to find out just what was getting the attention of the young girl.

"Yes Paiway, can I help you?"

"Um…can I ask you about what it's like back in your reality as a nurse?"

"Oh? Why do you ask me that?"

"Well…I am the only nurse here on the Nirvana right now and while I am not really the best, I do try a lot to be one. But it's really hard with all those injuries I have seen."

"I understand that, and truth be told, I am still surprised that you wish to stay on as one despite your age. The field of medicine, while not my specialty to be honest is not pretty nor is it nice for anyone who take the practice of medicine. But you should never forget that doctors and nurses are healers and they had to never forget that lives will depend on them so they must be ready for the worst."

Paiway nodded as she recalled the numbers of people who would come in with lots of injuries at times in the Sick Bay. She sighed a bit at how she sometimes froze up but she did what she could manage though she was now thinking of leaving the Sick Bay. But where did that leave her? She did not like the idea of doing nothing all the time, she could do what she normally did and that was to keep watch over people and taking notes. But that was not helpful and with things as they were, she needed to be helping her friends.

"I suppose you have a point Dr. Halsey, I'll take time to think about it all. But I would like to ask you about how you feel about Cortana being pregnant. I mean…she is genetically related to you right?"

"Yes…yes she is."

"Well are you pleased to know that she is pregnant and you will be a grandmother soon? I mean anyone would be pleased by such news, but still, I would like to know."

Catherine sighed and replied.

"I am happy, and perhaps, I can be a good parent to her and also a grand parent to my soon to be born grandson or grand-daughter. All I can hope for is that while we are here, we can do some good and help people as much as possible."

Paiway nodded at that and soon she decided to think hard on her reason to be a nurse. She did it for the fame, yet that faded when she saw the more bloody side of health care. But over time, she realized that now was not the right time to be squeamish if lives depended on her. It was not going to be easy but she wanted to do something than just stay in the sidelines forever. She soon moved towards Duero and spoke to him about her taking on more important duties as a nurse.

…

In one of the rooms…

Cortana was busy touching her stomach, feeling the growth of her first borne child in her body. She was still amazed by the fact that she was soon going to be a mother in a few months and she was hoping that she was going to be ready for the needs of being a mother. She was happy that at least she was not going to be alone when it concerns how to raise a baby since Ezra was here and she was taking care of her own baby so she will have to rely on her for tips on how to raise a child.

It was not long before she was soon greeted by none other than her friend Dita. The redhead could not help but smile as she walked over to Cortana and placed a large tray of food for her to have. And in turn Cortana smiled warmly at the redhead and spoke to her as she was curous just why she was bringing this much food with her.

"Hello Dita? May I ask why you are bringing this much food?"

The young woman smiled and replied.

"This food is for you actually Cortana, I want to help make sure that your baby gets all the best food. I made sure to select only healthy food since I know that eating good food means your baby will be born healthy."

The former AI smiled at that and began to eat the food and Dita could not help but smile at her friend and also at her now growing belly. She then looked at Cortana and spoke to her friend with as much respect and hopefulness as she could.

"Cortana, can I?"

Cortana nodded and Dita smiled as she began to run her hand over her friend's belly gently and she still could not help but be awed at the idea that a man and woman could actually have a baby together. It helped her in making sense the rumors she had heard from some of the Talvernians who were with them in the Nirvana and also what she had seen in the tape a few months to nearly a year ago. She could not help herself as she continued to rub her hands on Cortana's belly and even pressed her ear gently on her friend's belly, making Cortana laugh gently at her.

"Wow, I can't believe that soon we're going to have another baby here on the ship! I am sure that Ezra is going to love it that Kahlua is going to have a playmate soon."

Cortana smiled at that and replied.

"I have no doubt about that, and I am pleased that instead of being shocked by this, your other crew members are taking this very well."

Dita smiled and nodded as she spoke to Cortana.

"Everyone really wants to see just what sort of baby you and Mr. Green Alien are going to have Cortana! It's so exciting, do you think that I can have a baby like you as well with a man?"

If it hadn't been for the fact that she liked Dita a great deal, Cortana would have thought that she was biting off more than she could chew and would be asking for trouble. She sighed a bit and decided to talk to her young friend.

"I think that you can, but being a mother is not something that you can just become. And having a baby with a man is…a different experience to having a baby with a woman like what your people do."

"Really?"

"Yeah…John and I have been together long before we ever met you, and thus we know each other and have been very close friends. And while I did tease others about him and me in a relationship, I was well aware that as an A.I, I could not be with him. But I stood by him all the same, keeping my promise to protect him to the end without compromising my mission. But now…it's different, I do love that big lug, but to be a mother to our children is something I did not expect."

Dita listened to that and did not stop Cortana as she spoke also about how she felt being a human woman now. In this case a flesh and blood human woman now and all the things that came with it, both the good and bad things, such as emotions, thoughts, cravings, and desires. It made her take into account her own feelings and she soon spoke to Cortana now that she was done.

"So it's really that different having a child with a man Cortana?"

"Yeah…I'm no expert Dita but I think that before you decide to have a baby with a man, you have to ask yourself if you have what it takes to not just have a baby, but to have a baby with a man. And is the man you want to dedicate your life with and also accept him for him, flaws and all."

That made the young Megele girl stop and think about what her friend said, she thought about her desire to be a mother because of what Jura had done with Hibiki as well. She did like Hibiki and truth be told she had begun to feel certain things when it concerned Hibiki. At times when she thought of him, there was an ache that happens in her, it moved in three places. Her heart, then in her belly, and the last place where the ache would start would be that place where her woman-place would be. She then spoke to Cortana about those feelings she had when she was with Hibiki and she did not leave any details out.

Cortana could not help but listen to Dita and she could not help but think that perhaps Dita was now getting an idea of the feelings that women felt when it concerned the young Tarak apprentice of the Master Chief. She then spoke to her long time friend on the Nirvana and hoped that she could be able to see just how Dita understood her discussion.

"Dita, like I said, I am not expert on how this works, since I never thought I would be pregnant in this journey and have a baby. But if you want to have a baby with a man, make sure to do it for the right reasons. And I can say that if you have a baby with someone you really care about, then it is worth it."

Dita smiled at that and it seemed that Cortana's words had an effect on the young woman.

"Okay Cortana, thank you so much for the advice! By the way, I know this is kind of sudden, but do you have a name for your baby yet Cortana?"

The former A.I blushed at that and it told Dita that Cortana had not thought that far just yet.

"Not really sure yet, if it's a boy, then John and I will think of something, same if it is a girl."

…

It was at this point that the door opened and in walked John though he was only wearing the inner body suit of the MJOLNIR and not the full armor set at this time. The Spartan smiled a bit in greeting of the pair and soon moved forward to see how Cortana was doing. He also saw the food that Dita had brought for Cortana and he was happy that Dita was around to help Cortana. And he decided if he could talk to Ezra on asking her to help in teaching Cortana on how to handle being a mother since the only one who raised a baby that he and the others knew of on the Nirvana would be her.

"Thanks for helping Cortana Dita, do you mind if I speak to her in private?"

Dita smiled at John and soon left but not before saying that she had no doubt that John would make a very fine ohma.

"Sure thing Mr. Green Alien, and I think that you will make a fine ohma and also I want to say that you and Cortana are going to be a very good family together, anyway I have to go and check up on my Dread and hang out with Paiway. See you all soon!"

John could not help but smile a bit more than usual as Cortana spoke to him.

She is such a nice girl."

"Maybe you can ask her to be our child's nanny or big sister or something Cortana, I'm sure she would love that idea."

Cortana laughed a bit at that.

"I think I will do that, she will love the idea, and I can bet I can have her convince Paiway to help. And I think Kahlua would love to have a playmate when she is older. By the way John…we need to talk about what to do with ourselves when this war is over."

John nodded at that and he spoke first to her.

"What do you want Cortana?"

She sighed a bit and soon rubbed her now growing belly and thought about what she felt towards her growing child and the new enemy they faced. She thought about what she had learned and seen when the Covenant and the Flood was still their enemy respectively. She did not need to think for too long before she replied.

"I want to have our baby in a peaceful time John, I want to be able to give birth to him or her without having to worry about our home being attacked by anyone. If we do find a way back to the UNSC, I want to be able to settle down here and be able to have a family with you. And if we cannot go back to UNSC space, then this will be our home. And I want you to be around as often as you can afford to so you and I can raise our child together, and even our children if we have the chance and time to have more."

"Now that I am done telling you what I want, what about you, what do you want?"

John smiled a bit more and replied.

"About the same, I might not…know ,much about being a father for real, but I will do my best to be there for you and our child Cortana."

"Then that is a start."

John soon sat next to Cortana and she leaned her head on the man's shoulder and they relaxed. Both knew that this was uncharted territory for the both of them. Similar to how they had to deal with their growing attraction to one another ever since she had been transformed into a flesh and blood woman. But this time they were going to keep moving forward and make the most of their situation and it would not be just for themselves but also for their allies, friends, and family, as well as their own family to come in the near future. As long as they were together, then it did not matter to them where they were going to be staying.

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

Not much action and battles, might look boring, but this is needed as we are delving on how the people are reacting to the news that Cortana is pregnant and that John is now a father. Keep in mind that this a proverbial first since the only one thing that can come close to this was when Maria-062 retired and was married after she was Wounded In Action. That could have been a cover due to her status as a Spartan II and a member of ONI, but you'll never know.

Anyway, I wanted to try taking a break from all the fighting and show the lighter side of the whole universe and at least be on a more relaxed note. But like anything else, the peace is not going to last. Just like I wrote in the trailer, there will come the point where the Nirvana, the Ruby Rapier, and the Titan's Wrath are going to be caught in a situation that will test them all. And this will be also the point where we will have the UNSC/Reborn Covenant fleet arrive in the VanDread world.

Now to be fair, I will not have a large fleet join the Nirvana so I will be working on the details on what is the exact size of Battle Group Washington. Now I know that there are a lot of people who are telling me about naval tactics in regards to Battle Groups, but I have a lot on my mind so I will work on fixing those details when I can. I also hope that despite the delays, people can understand the fact that I do have a life outside of this stuff and I only do this in my free time, and this is not something I am being paid to do. And in these tough economic times, I have to sacrifice my time to help my family.

…

The next chapter will be about how the Nirvana will be caught in a situation where it, the Ruby Rapier, and the Titan's Wrath and their respective crews will be forced to work together near a world which is actually similar to the same planet where John's leadership in ground operations cemented him to lead the Nirvana's ground teams. I plan to have some key members of the crew be trapped on that world. It might be similar to what happened in GunDread Seed The Second Stage though I will do it my way and change it to make sure that it does not sound too similar to what happened the last time in the other story since some originality is needed..

If you are curious, this will include Hibiki and a few others, and might include some of the Spartans, namely the IIs and IIIs. This will take time for me to plan out so if you have questions, send to me via PM okay?

…

And lastly, this is the second the last Halo update I am making and soon all Halo stories will be on ice so stop asking me about when it will be updated again. I will make the announcement when the time comes and not before.

See you all soon!


End file.
